Greater Yellowlegs Identification Guide

Key Field Marks

• Size & shape: A tall, lanky sandpiper roughly 11–15 inches (28–38 cm) long, with a long neck, long bill, and very long bright yellow legs.
• Plumage: Gray-brown above with fine white spotting/mottling in breeding plumage, becoming plainer gray in winter; underparts white with dark streaking on the neck and flanks, heavier in breeding plumage.
• Bill: Long (roughly 1.5x head length or more), fairly stout, and very slightly upturned, often bicolored gray-based with a darker tip.
• Legs: Long and bright yellow to yellow-orange, a defining feature shared with Lesser Yellowlegs but proportionally longer here.
• Behavior: Forages actively, often running through shallow water while sweeping its bill side to side or jabbing at small fish and invertebrates; bobs its tail and body; frequently wary and quick to call in alarm.

Separating It From Similar Species

• Lesser Yellowlegs is the primary confusion species: noticeably smaller and more delicate, with a shorter, straighter, thinner, and entirely dark bill (roughly equal to head length, not longer), a gentler expression, and a shorter, more even two-note call (tu-tu) versus Greater's louder three-to-four note call. Bill length relative to head size and the slight upturn are the most reliable structural marks.
• Willet is bulkier and grayer with a thicker, straighter bill and blue-gray (not yellow) legs, and shows a bold black-and-white wing pattern in flight.
• Stilt Sandpiper is smaller, with a longer, more strongly drooped bill tip and greenish-yellow (not bright yellow) legs.

Where & When to See It

• Habitat: Shallow freshwater and brackish wetlands, flooded fields, mudflats, marsh edges, and shoreline pools; more likely than Lesser Yellowlegs to use deeper water and coastal habitats.
• Range: Breeds in boreal forest bogs and muskeg across Canada and Alaska; winters along the southern U.S. coasts, Mexico, Central America, and South America, with wide passage across the interior during migration.
• Season: A migrant across most of North America in spring (April–May) and fall (July–October), a winter resident along southern coasts, and a summer breeder only in the far north.

Voice

• A loud, ringing, far-carrying three- or four-note whistle, often rendered tew-tew-tew or dear-dear-dear, typically given when disturbed or in flight — louder and more insistent than the flatter two-note call of Lesser Yellowlegs.