Shore birds of the Chaplin Lake

Lesser Yellowlegs

Named for its "tell-tale" yellow legs, this species has a thin, straight black bill which is only slightly longer than its head. Its underparts are white with dark streaks on the throat and breast. The single most useful identifying feature is its danger call which sounds something like, "chu-chu."

The LesserYellowlegs, which feeds in large, loose flocks of sometimes hundreds of birds, picks and snatches at its food. On its way northward, it arrives at Chaplin in late April and stops over during the summer on its return southern trip.

LesserYellowlegs breed in northern Saskatchewan, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. They winter in central California, southern Arizona, South Carolina, along the Gulf of Mexico and as far south as Chile and Argentina.

Previous Section -- Killdeer
Return to Contents
Next Section -- Marbled Godwit