[leasbirds] Re: yellowlegs
- From: Anthony Hewetson <terrverts@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "leasbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <leasbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 07:47:59 -0700 (PDT)
Greetings Tom:
You and I need to meet so that I can give you a copy of the regional checklist
and so that, if you are interested, I can rope you and Toni into a more active
role in the chapter:) We need some young folk (and you definitely qualify) to
take on the officer roles so that we can get the chapter up and running. Give
me a buzz at 252-1213 and we can set up a meeting.
We get both species - Greater Yellowlegs are more common as wintering birds.
Numbers oscillate during both migratory periods and some years we see large
groups of Lesser Yellowlegs during migration, some years we don't. There is
no hard and fast rule, though - the largest single group of yellowlegs I have
seen in the region was a flock of 75, one spring, that all turned out the be
Greater Yellowlegs. Some swear that while the bill of the Lesser Yellowlegs is
thin and perfectly straight, the bill of the Greater Yellowlegs is thin and
SLIGHTLY upturned. If you listen to the alarm calls on any of the recordings
available on-line and you have good hearing, the two species can be identified
by vocalization. The bill of the Greater Yellowlegs is supposed to be
two-toned (except in breeding plumage - which we rarely see anyway) - paler at
the base, darker towards the tip. The bill of the Lesser Yellowlegs is
supposed to by uniformly dark. I
don't have a lot of faith in this last trait.
Anthony
________________________________
From: "Dolan, Tom" <tom@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: leasbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, March 27, 2014 9:15 AM
Subject: [leasbirds] yellowlegs
Hi Everyone, I saw a yellowlegs at Leftwich Park playa yesterday. I got a
good look at him, but he flew off before I could pull out the book. And, I
don't have much experience in the difference between lesser and greater. I
assume it was a greater because it seemed to be bulky and the bill seemed to be
significantly longer than the head. It was also reasonable stationary - i.e.
not moving around much.
My question is do we have both in Lubbock? And, does anyone have additional
tips on identification?
Thanks!
Tom Dolan
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