Photographed this bird today in Peaceful Waters Sanctuary in south Florida. Is this a Short-billed Dowitcher? Or is it a Yellowlegs
ID Needed
Photographed this bird today in Peaceful Waters Sanctuary in south Florida. Is this a Short-billed Dowitcher? Or is it a Yellowlegs
Last edited by Milt Berko; 02-15-2011 at 06:40 PM.
Milt - this looks like a Greater Yellowlegs to me.
Greater Yellowlegs. The fairly stout bill with the pale base separates it from Lesser.
Many thanks to both of you for the ID. Much appreciated.Originally Posted by Paul Guris
Jeff/Paul nailed it.
It has a voice like:
when-when-when or dear! dear! dear!
Flying it appears dark winged.
It has winter range in South Florida.
Since Jeff C. mentioned flight, there's a really good way to pick out dowitchers in flight. They have a white stripe up their back. Both yellowlegs and both dowitchers share the pale tail with some barring, but only the two dowitchers have the white continuing up the back.
In my opinion, this is a Lesser Yellowlegs, not a Greater. The ratio of the bill length to the width of the head is spot on for Lesser and not nearly large enough for Greater. Plus, Greater usually shows a slightly upturned bill and this bird's bill is perfectly straight.
Last edited by Chris Sloan; 02-18-2011 at 11:00 AM.
I thought it was a Lesser too - **the voice characteristics I mentioned are for the Lesser, just got my wording backwards.
Like Paul said, the bill is correct in ratio to the head and it seems straight. The Greater is larger as well.
** Peterson Field Guide
Birds of North America
Fifth Edition (p148)
Last edited by Jeff Cashdollar; 02-18-2011 at 11:37 AM.
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