Greater Yellowlegs
Greater YellowlegsGreater YellowlegsGreater YellowlegsGreater Yellowlegs

Greater Yellowlegs

Tringa melanoleuca

Silhouette: Andy Wilson · PhyloPic

LCNTNear ThreatenedVUENCR
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Chicago

In 3 days <5% in a week ~10%

733 Verified sightings at Chicago
12,047 In all 72 parks From 2019 to 2026
August Best month
☀️ Diurnal When it's spotted

About 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.

The greater yellowlegs was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it in the genus Scolopax and coined the binomial name Scolopax melanoleuca. Gmelin based his description on the "stone snipe" seen feeding in autumn in Chateau Bay, Labrador, that had been described in 1785 by both the English ornithologist John Latham and by the Welsh naturalist Thomas Pennant. The greater yellowlegs is now placed in the genus Tringa that was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. The name Tringa is the Neo-Latin word given to the green sandpiper by the Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi in 1603 based on Ancient Greek trungas, a thrush-sized, white-rumped, tail-bobbing wading bird mentioned by Aristotle. The specific epithet melanoleuca combines the Ancient Greek melas meaning... Wikipedia →

Sounds

Alarm call0:21

United States · 2022

© AUDEVARD Aurélien · XC1048822 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Call0:16

Brazil · 2025

© JAYRSON ARAUJO DE OLIVEIRA · XC957945 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Song0:07

Mexico · 2024

© Leonardo Guzman Hernandez · XC862340 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Katmai National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~60%
2 El Vizcaíno Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
~40%
3 Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge 🇺🇸 United States
~30%
4 Bahía de Loreto National Park 🇲🇽 Mexico
~30%
5 Padre Island National Seashore 🇺🇸 United States
~30%
6 Ciénaga de Zapata 🇨🇺 Cuba
~30%
7 Jaragua National Park 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
~20%
8 Ría Lagartos Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
~20%
9 Lauca National Park 🇨🇱 Chile
~20%
10 Caroni Swamp 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago
~20%
11 Gros Morne National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~20%
12 Celestún Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
~20%
13 Pacific Rim National Park Reserve 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
14 Everglades National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
15 Elk Island National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
16 Cabo Pulmo National Park 🇲🇽 Mexico
~10%
17 Palo Verde National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~10%
18 Great Bear Rainforest 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
19 Utría National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
~10%
20 Wood Buffalo National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
21 Cape Breton Highlands National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%
22 Isla del Coco National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
~10%
23 Coiba National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
~10%
24 Big Cypress National Preserve 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
25 El Impenetrable National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
~10%
26 San Lorenzo Protected Forest 🇵🇦 Panama
~10%
27 Acadia National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
28 Channel Islands National Park 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
29 Wrangell-St. Elias National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
30 Nahuel Huapi National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
<5%
31 Los Haitises National Park 🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
<5%
32 Death Valley National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
33 Yasuní National Park 🇪🇨 Ecuador
<5%
34 Point Pelee National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
35 Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
36 Las Baulas Marine National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
37 Arrecifes de Cozumel National Park 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
38 Tayrona National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
<5%
39 Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve 🇪🇨 Ecuador
<5%
40 Riding Mountain National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
41 Manu National Park 🇵🇪 Peru
<5%
42 Redwood National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
43 Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
44 Olympic National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
45 Parque Estadual Encontro das Águas 🇧🇷 Brazil
<5%
46 Carara National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
47 Bastimentos Island National Marine Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
48 La Amistad International Park (Panama) 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
49 Main Ridge Forest Reserve 🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago
<5%
50 Iberá National Park 🇦🇷 Argentina
<5%
51 Yellowstone National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
52 Darién National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
53 Jasper National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
54 Banff National Park 🇨🇦 Canada
<5%
55 Cabo Blanco Absolute Nature Reserve 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
56 Corcovado National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
57 Tambopata National Reserve 🇵🇪 Peru
<5%
58 Cahuita National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
59 Tortuguero National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
60 Piedras Blancas National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
61 Parque Natural Metropolitano 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
62 Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve 🇲🇽 Mexico
<5%
63 Galápagos Islands 🇪🇨 Ecuador
<5%
64 Manuel Antonio National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
65 Big Bend National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
66 Marino Ballena National Park 🇨🇷 Costa Rica
<5%
67 Shenandoah National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
68 Los Nevados National Natural Park 🇨🇴 Colombia
<5%
69 Yosemite National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
70 Saguaro National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%
71 Soberanía National Park 🇵🇦 Panama
<5%
72 Rocky Mountain National Park 🇺🇸 United States
<5%

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Anchorage 🇺🇸 United States
~30%
2 Montevideo 🇺🇾 Uruguay
~20%
3 Mesa 🇺🇸 United States
~20%
4 San Francisco 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
5 Panama City 🇵🇦 Panama
~10%
6 Los Angeles 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
7 Cochabamba 🇧🇴 Bolivia
~10%
8 San Diego 🇺🇸 United States
~10%
9 Rosario 🇦🇷 Argentina
~10%
10 Calgary 🇨🇦 Canada
~10%

Closest Relatives at Chicago

Solitary Sandpiper
LC

Solitary Sandpiper

☀️ Diurnal Bird

Tringa solitaria

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
Lesser Yellowlegs
VU

Lesser Yellowlegs

☀️ Diurnal Bird

Tringa flavipes

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
Willet
LC

Willet

☀️ Diurnal Bird

Tringa semipalmata

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
Spotted Sandpiper
LC

Spotted Sandpiper

☀️ Diurnal Bird

Actitis macularius

Daily sighting probability ~10% · With luck
Least Sandpiper
NT

Least Sandpiper

☀️ Diurnal Bird

Calidris minutilla

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
Sanderling
LC

Sanderling

☀️ Diurnal Bird

Calidris alba

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
Semipalmated Sandpiper
NT

Semipalmated Sandpiper

☀️ Diurnal Bird

Calidris pusilla

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
Ruff
LC

Ruff

☀️ Diurnal Bird

Calidris pugnax

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
Dunlin
NT

Dunlin

☀️ Diurnal Bird

Calidris alpina

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
Pectoral Sandpiper
LC

Pectoral Sandpiper

☀️ Diurnal Bird

Calidris melanotos

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
Wilson's Snipe
LC

Wilson's Snipe

☀️ Diurnal Bird

Gallinago delicata

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
Ruddy Turnstone
NT

Ruddy Turnstone

☀️ Diurnal Bird

Arenaria interpres

Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Greater Yellowlegs in Chicago?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Greater Yellowlegs sighting in Chicago on a given day, based on 733 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 171st most-seen of the 314 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, and over a week to about 10%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Greater Yellowlegs in Chicago?

Any time of year

In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Greater Yellowlegs in Chicago on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.

What time of day is best to see a Greater Yellowlegs?

Between 9 am and noon

Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Greater Yellowlegs sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.

Is Chicago the best place to see a Greater Yellowlegs?

34th of 52

Of the 52 cities where we can rate Greater Yellowlegs sightings, Chicago ranks 34th at under 5%. The best odds are in Anchorage (United States, about 30%), Montevideo (Uruguay, about 20%) and Mesa (United States, about 20%).

Where does the Greater Yellowlegs sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Greater Yellowlegs is recorded against all the birds logged in Chicago (733 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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