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Paul Merritt
02-28-2009, 08:23 PM
What am I looking at here? I know they are Yellowlegs. Is it a Greater and a Lesser?

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h33/Airedale1/UNKYellowlegs.jpg

Marina Scarr
02-28-2009, 08:45 PM
I agree that the front bird is a Greater Yellowlegs, and the rear bird the Lesser.

Paul Lagasi
02-28-2009, 08:52 PM
Markings on the flanks and slightly upturned bill...to me, at least makes the front bird a Greater, the back bird, probably a Lesser, its bill is straighter, more pointed, shorter and flanks seem to be bare (looking at reflection). In my opinion only...Paul

John Chardine
02-28-2009, 08:54 PM
Yep. Nice comparison image. Other than the size, notice the straighter, thinner bill of the Lesser compared to the longer, upturned bill of the Greater.

Paul Merritt
02-28-2009, 11:08 PM
Thank you very much.

Ilija Dukovski
03-03-2009, 09:31 PM
Other than the above comments, simple criterion to distinguish the two is to
compare the relative bill length to head width in the profile. Greater yellowlegs in
general has the bill slightly longer than the head width while the lesser has it just slightly shorter.

Also the eye ring and lores areas are quite different, but hard two compare in the
field.

Cheers, Ilija