Our shorebird migration comes in three phases. The first phase hosts among others the Lesser Yellowlegs. The second phase in the second half of August is primarily composed of hundreds of thousands of peeps; the Least sandpiper(our smallest and friendliest), the Semipalmated Plover, the Semipalmated Sandpiper, the White-rumped and Baird's Sandpiper and numerous rarer shorebirds.

The Lesser Yellowlegs is easily distinguished from its larger lookalike, the Greater Yellowlegs, (a local nester) by its bill length. The bill length of the Lesser Yellowlegs is between 1.25 to 1.5 times the length of the head and straight whereas the bill of the Greater Yellowlegs is double the length of the head and slightly curved up at the tip. Both yellowlegs will often feed together.

Lesser Yellowlegs

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