yellowlegs

[ yel-oh-legz ]

noun

, (used with a singular verb)

1. either of two American shorebirds having yellow legs, Tringa melanoleuca greater yellowlegs or T. flavipes lesser yellowlegs.

yellowlegs

/ ˈjɛləʊˌlɛɡz /

noun

1. functioning as singular either of two North American sandpipers, Tringa melanoleuca (or Totanus melanoleucus ) ( greater yellowlegs ) or T. flavipes ( lesser yellowlegs ), having bright yellow legs

Word History and Origins

Origin of yellowlegs¹

1765–75, Americanism; yellow + legs ( def )

Example Sentences

Without golf balls whizzing overhead, the land has become habitat for migratory shorebirds, among them black-necked stilts, greater yellowlegs and sandpipers, and has even drawn the secretive American bittern.

From Seattle Times

“The wetlands will provide foraging and rearing habitat for a diversity of coastal dependent and migratory shorebirds, waterfowl and passerine species, including for example black oystercatchers, greater yellowlegs and red-necked grebe.”

From Washington Times

A glance at its pages revealed a menagerie of birds that could have been named by Dr. Seuss: worm-eating warblers, short-billed dowitchers, lesser yellowlegs, northern parulas and yellow-billed cuckoos.

From Washington Post

If they spot a lesser yellowlegs in New Hampshire in late August, they know it is only passing through on its early southward migration from Canada.

From The New Yorker

Helpfully, lesser yellowlegs are smaller than greaters, which is most obvious when they are seen together.

From New York Times