Greater yellowlegs
Tringa melanoleuca (J. F. Gmelin, 1789)
The greater yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) is a species in the family Scolopacidae, order Charadriiformes. Recorded adults weigh 161.7 g to 175 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Near Threatened.
Quick facts about the greater yellowlegs
- Weight
- 161.7 g – 175 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 70 cm – 74 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 23 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4src for Young per litter or clutch
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Near Threatened (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the greater yellowlegs?
Where does the greater yellowlegs live?
Not recorded
What is the greater yellowlegs?
The greater yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) is a large shorebird in the family Scolopacidae. It breeds in central Canada and southern Alaska and winters in southern North America, Central America, the West Indies and South America.
From the Wikipedia article “Greater yellowlegs” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Greater_yellowlegs&oldid=1383427134), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the greater yellowlegs endangered?
The greater yellowlegs is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List: it is close to qualifying as threatened.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Near Threatened species. What the categories mean.
How is the greater yellowlegs classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderCharadriiformes
- familyScolopacidae
- genusTringa
- SpeciesTringa melanoleuca (J. F. Gmelin, 1789)
Synonyms Scolopax melanoleuca, Scolopax vociferus, Totanus maculatus, Totanus melanoleucus, Totanus melanoleucus frazari
Other names and names in other languages (73)
- Aunt SarahEnglish
- Greater yellow-legsEnglish
- GrootgeelpootruiterAfrikaans
- أصفر الساق الكبيرArabic
- Churrupetas patiamariello granAragonese
- Голям жълтоног водобегачBulgarian
- Strelleg pavioù melenBreton
- Camagroga grossaCatalan
- gamba groga grossaCatalan
- Codouš velkýCzech
- vodouš velkýCzech
- melyngoes mawrWelsh
- Melyngoesau MawrWelsh
- Stor GulbenDanish
- Stor Gulben Stor Gulbenet KlireDanish
- TüpfelgelbschenkelGerman
- großer GelbschenkelGerman
- ΚιτρινοσκέληςGreek
- granda tringoEsperanto
- Pitotoy grandeSpanish
- Archibebe patigualdo grandeSpanish
- Patamarilla mayorSpanish
- Patas Amarillas GrandeSpanish
- Patas Amarillas MayorSpanish
- Patiamarillo MayorSpanish
- Playero guineílla grandeSpanish
- Playero guineílla mayorSpanish
- Playero Pata Amarilla MayorSpanish
- Playero patas amarillas grandeSpanish
- Tigüi-Tigüe GrandeSpanish
- ameerika heletilderEstonian
- amerikanvikloFinnish
- Amerikanvalkoviklo IsokeltajalkavikloFinnish
- Stórur gulstelkurFaroese
- Grand ChevalierFrench
- Chevalier criardFrench
- Grand Chevalier à pattes jaunesFrench
- Ladhrán buíIrish
- Clingcf
- Bilurico patiamarelo grandeGalician
- Goblan buighManx
- Mbatui guasuGuarani
- Gwo Bekasin janm jònHaitian Creole
- בצנית עקודהHebrew
- ביצנית עקודהHebrew
- žutonoga prutkaCroatian
- mocsári cankóHungarian
- MosastelkurIcelandic
- Totano zampegialle maggioreItalian
- オオキアシシギJapanese
- 큰노랑발도요Korean
- margasis tulikasLithuanian
- Juodmargis tulikasLithuanian
- lielais dzeltenstilbisLatvian
- plystresnipeNorwegian Bokmål
- GeelpootruiterDutch
- grote geelpootruiterDutch
- Snepi Pia Hel LarguPapiamento
- Snepi Pia Hel GrandiPapiamento
- brodziec piegowatyPolish
- perna-amarela-grandePortuguese
- maçarico-grande-de-perna-amarelaPortuguese
- Пёстрый улитRussian
- улит пестрыйRussian
- StuorrafiskesjuolčoavžžuNorthern Sami
- kalužiak jarabýSlovak
- veliki rumenonogi martinecSlovenian
- Veliki žutonogi sprudnikSerbian
- större gulbenaSwedish
- büyük sarıbacakTurkish
- коловодник строкатийUkrainian
- 大黃腳鷸Chinese
- 大黄脚鹬Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the greater yellowlegs
Other species in the same genus Tringa.
Common redshank
Tringa totanus
Common greenshank
Tringa nebularia
Green sandpiper
Tringa ochropus
Wood sandpiper
Tringa glareola
Spotted redshank
Tringa erythropus
Marsh sandpiper
Tringa stagnatilis
CompareGreater yellowlegs vs Common redshankGreater yellowlegs vs Common greenshankGreater yellowlegs vs Green sandpiperGreater yellowlegs vs Wood sandpiper
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the greater yellowlegs?
An adult greater yellowlegs weighs 161.7 g – 175 g and has a wingspan of 70 cm – 74 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the greater yellowlegs endangered?
The greater yellowlegs is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is close to qualifying as threatened.
What kind of animal is the greater yellowlegs?
The greater yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) belongs to the family Scolopacidae in the order Charadriiformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Greater yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/greater-yellowlegs
“Greater yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/greater-yellowlegs.
@misc{greater_yellowlegs_2026,
title = {Greater yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/greater-yellowlegs},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}