🎶…And they were all Yellow(legs)🎵
Are you getting ready for the Global Shorebird Count and want some handy ID tips to help distinguish between those tough to tell apart species? 🤔 Say no more!
Today we meet the Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs 💛. Even though one is far larger than the other (as you might have deduced by the not-so-subtle clue in their names!), they are strikingly similar in appearance. So when they aren’t together it can be hard to know who you’re seeing!
Don’t worry though, we’ve got terrific tips here! You can use both their bill-length 📏 (we bet you can make a “great” guess as to who has the longer bill!🤭) and their calls 🎶 to help tell them apart. Our video shows exactly what to look and listen out for.
Both these yellow-legged shorebirds are long-distance migrants. They make amazing journeys of 1000s of kilometers—heading south from their breeding grounds in the far north of North America🌎. They start arriving in the Caribbean 🏝️ in late July and August. Some will spend their entire winter with us, whilst others will continue on to South America. Look for them in rice-fields, mud flats and on mangrove edges.
It’s extra critical for us to understand how Lesser Yellowlegs are doing. You see, their populations have declined 📉 by an alarming 63-70% since the 1970s! Your help gives scientists the vital data needed to make decisions about how to best protect them!
Why not celebrate 🎉 World Shorebirds Day (September 7) by carrying out a survey between September 1-7 as part of the Global Shorebird Count? 📝 Then double your impact by doing another count a week to 10 days later. If you're in the Caribbean, remember to record your counts in eBird Caribbean using the CWC protocol!
Find out more about how to take part here: [ Ссылка ]
So, do you use any other ways to tell these two shorebirds apart?
📸 and 📼 in order of appearance: Andrew Dobson, Don DesJardin, Hemant Kishan, Rick Evets, Don DesJardin
Bird 🎶: Xeno Canto
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