Arizona (Fort Verde and Bill Williams River); Texas (Tom Green and
Concho Counties, Boerne, San Antonio, and Refugio County); Louisiana
(Abbeville, Avery Island, and New Orleans); and probably Virginia (Hog
Island). East probably to Virginia (Hog Island and Sandy Island);
probably North Carolina (Corolla and Pea Island); South Carolina (Ladys
Island and Frogmore); Georgia (Blackbeard Island, Darien, and St.
Marys); Florida (Amelia Island, Daytona Beach, Miakka, and the Florida
Keys); the Bahama Islands (Andros, New Providence, and Inagua Islands);
probably Porto Rico; the Lesser Antilles (Antigua, Barbados, and
Grenada); French Guiana (Cayenne); Brazil (Para, Cajetuba, Iguape,
Pelotas, and Rio Grande do Sul); Uruguay (Lazcano, San Vicente, and
Colonia); and Argentina (Buenos Aires, Azul, Carhue, and Bahia Blanca).
South to Argentina (Bahia Blanca); Chile (Straits of Magellan,
Valparaiso, Paposo, and Antofagasta); Peru (Lake Titicaca, Tinta, and
Chorillos); Ecuador (Cuenca, Canar, and Quito); Colombia (Bogota,
Medellin, and Cartagena); Costa Rica (San Jose and Puntarenas);
Guatemala (Lake Atitlan); Jalisco (Guadalajara); Sinaloa (Escuinapa);
Lower California (San Jose del Cabo, La Paz, and San Quintin);
California (San Diego, Long Beach, Santa Barbara, and the San Joaquin
Valley); and rarely Washington (Dungeness Spit). Greater yellow-legs
also have been reported as wintering on the coast of British Columbia
(Macoun).
_Spring migration._--Early dates of spring arrival are: Maryland,
Patapsco Marsh, March 26; Pennsylvania, Carlisle, March 19, and Erie,
March 28; New Jersey, Cape May, March 18, and Camden, April 4; New York,
Jamaica, March 20, Lowville, March 22, and Montauk Point, March 23;
Connecticut, West Haven, March 25, and Fairfield, April 9;
Massachusetts, Taunton, April 4, and Cambridge, April 15; Maine,
Pittsfield, April 26; Quebec, Quebec, April 18, Godbout, April 26,
Montreal, May 4, and Lake Mistassini, May 7; Missouri, Kansas City,
March 2, Corning, March 19, and Jasper City, March 24; Illinois,
Englewood, March 19, Tampico, March 22, and Lebanon, March 29; Indiana,
Terre Haute, March 19, Indianapolis, March 22, and Vincennes, March 30;
Ohio, Waverly, March 14, and Columbus, February 21; Michigan, Bay City,
March 26, Ann Arbor, March 30, and Hillsdale, March 31; Ontario, Ottawa,
March 25, Toronto, March 26, and Blair, April 10; Iowa, Storm Lake,
March 20, La Porte, March 21, and Keokuk, March 26; Wisconsin, Delavan,
March 30, Madison, April 3, and Milwaukee, April 10; Minnesota, Wilder,
March 30, and Waseca, April 10; Oklahoma, Caddo, March 11; Kansas,
Manhattan, March 11, Emporia, March 26, and Wichita, April 6; Nebraska,
Falls City, March 22, Valentine, April 6, and Lincoln, April 10; South
Dakota, Sioux Falls, March 27, and Harrison, April 7; North Dakota,
Bathgate, April 15, and Grafton, April 19; Manitoba, Aweme, April 10,
Ossowo, April 15, and Reaburn, April 16; Saskatchewan, McLean, April 29,
and Indian Head, May 3; Mackenzie, Fort Simpson, May 16; Colorado, Barr,
March 29, and Colorado Springs, April 10; Utah, Salt Lake, April 7;
Wyoming, Fort Sanders, April 20, and Yellowstone Park, April 28; Idaho,
Meridian, April 14, and Rupert, April 20; Montana, Great Falls, April 6,
and Helena, April 9; Alberta, Onoway, April 13, Alliance, April 26, and
Carvel, April 30; and British Columbia, Chilliwack, March 28, and
Okanagan Landing, March 23.
Late dates of spring departures are: Argentina, Tucuman, April 5; Chile,
Concon, April 26; Florida, Daytona Beach, April 10, Bassenger, April 16,
Indian River, April 23, and Pensacola, May 2; Alabama, Leighton, May 15;
Georgia, Cumberland, April 17 and Savannah, April 20; South Carolina,
Chester, April 21, and Ladys Island, May 5; North Carolina, Lake Ellis,
May 18, Cape Hatteras, May 20, and Raleigh, May 29; Virginia, Cobb
Island, May 19, Wallops Island, May 26, and Cape Charles, May 27;
Bermuda, June 5; District of Columbia, Washington, May 20; Pennsylvania,
Erie, May 25, Tinicum, May 26, and Jeffersonville, May 27; New Jersey,
Camden, May 25, mouth of Pensauken Creek, May 30, and Elizabeth, June 9;
New York, Geneva, June 1, Orient Point, June 11, and Gardiners Island,
June 18; Connecticut, Litchfield, June 9, Fairfield, June 12, and
Hadlyme, June 15; Massachusetts, Marthas Vineyard, June 14, and Monomoy
Island, June 16; Louisiana, New Orleans, April 27; Tennessee, Nashville,
May 24; Illinois, Addison, May 23, and La Grange, May 25; Indiana,
Richmond, May 20, and English Lake, June 3; Ohio, Columbus, May 27, and
Berlin Center, May 27; Michigan, Neebish Island, May 20, and Detroit,
May 25; Ontario, London, May 24, and Toronto, June 9; Iowa, Sioux City,
May 19, and Keokuk, June 5; Wisconsin, North Freedom, May 24, and La
Crosse, June 4; Minnesota, Lake Wilson, May 20, and Madison, May 31;
Texas, Brownsville, April 28, and Point Isabel, May 14; Nebraska, Peru,
May 15, Neligh, May 26, and Whitman, June 1; South Dakota, Forestburg,
May 21, and Harrison, May 28; Manitoba, Reaburn, May 18, Winnipeg, May
20, and Whitewater Lake, June 5; Saskatchewan, McLean, May 18, South
Qu'Appelle, May 27; Arizona, Fort Verde, May 3; Colorado, Durango, May
11, Barr, May 11; Wyoming, Laramie, May 29; Montana, Choteau, May 19,
and Terry, May 27; Lower California, Hardy River, April 15; California,
Santa Barbara, May 16, Los Angeles, May 19, and Buena Park, May 22;
Oregon, Cold Spring Bird Reserve, May 12; and Washington, Clallam Bay,
May 24.
_Fall migration._--Early dates of arrival in the fall are: Washington,
Tacoma, July 4, and Granville, July 7; Oregon, Malheur Lake, July 1;
California, Fresno, July 5, Santa Barbara, July 18, and Dunlap, July 30;
Montana, Milk River, July 24; Wyoming, Laramie River, August 4, and
Yellowstone Park, August 17; Utah, Utah Lake, July 26; Colorado, Barr,
June 27; Arizona, Fort Verde, July 29; Chihuahua, Tachaco, July 30;
Saskatchewan, Crane Lake, June 22, and McLean, July 5; Manitoba,
Franklin, July 17, Margaret, July 30, and Oak Lake, August 4; South
Dakota, Harding County, July 19, and Forestburg, July 22; Texas, Corpus
Christi, July 3, and near Amarillo, July 27; Minnesota, Hallock, July
19, and St. Vincent, July 20; Wisconsin, Madison, July 29, and Racine,
July 30; Iowa, Sioux City, August 14, and Winthrop, August 20; Ontario,
Toronto, July 28; Michigan, Jackson, July 19, Isle Royale, August 1,
Sault Ste. Marie, August 7, and Ann Arbor, August 14; Ohio, Columbus,
July 12, Pelee Island, July 24, and Dayton, August 2; Illinois, Addison,
July 19, Chicago, July 23, and Rantoul, July 26; Louisiana, Louisiana
Branch, August 16; Maine, Pittsfield, July 26; Massachusetts, Cape Cod,
July 11, and Marthas Vineyard, July 22; Rhode Island, Block Island, July
9; Connecticut, Milford, July 28; New York, Montauk Point, July 10, East
Hampton, July 16, and Rochester, July 18; New Jersey, Barnegat Bay, July
13, and Five-mile Beach, July 15; Pennsylvania, Erie, July 28; District
of Columbia, Washington, July 24; North Carolina, Pea and Bodie Islands,
July 22; South Carolina, Ladys Island, July 21, and Frogmore, August 8;
Alabama, Leighton, July 22; and Florida, Ponce Park, July 12, Palma
Sola, August 2, and Key West, August 20. The southern part of the winter
range is reached early in September; Paraguay, Puerto Pinasco, September
8.
Late dates of fall departure are: British Columbia, Comox, October 28,
and Chilliwack, November 21; Nevada, Washoe Lake, November 6; Alberta,
Fort Chipewyan, October 9, and Camrose, October 16; Montana, Great
Falls, October 20; Idaho, Meridian, November 12; Wyoming, Fort Bridger,
October 14, and Medicine Bow, October 24; Colorado, Denver, October 3,
and Barr, October 29; Manitoba, Margaret, October 20, Oak Lake, October
27, and Aweme, November 5; North Dakota, Marstonmoor, October 27; South
Dakota, Forestburg, October 22, and South Dakota, Forestburg, October
22, and Sioux Falls, October 29; Nebraska, Lincoln, November 14; Kansas,
Emporia, October 12; Minnesota, Madison, October 22, St. Vincent,
October 25, and Lanesboro, November 12; Wisconsin, Delavan, October 22,
and North Freedom, November 8; Iowa, Emmetsburg, October 22, and Keokuk,
November 9; Ontario, Ottawa, November 15, Toronto, November 19, and Port
Dover, November 20; Michigan, Ann Arbor, October 22, Sault Ste. Marie,
November 5, and Manchester, November 7; Ohio, Painesville, October 30,
Columbus, December 11, and Youngstown, November 12; Indiana, Lafayette,
October 21; Illinois, Addison, October 22, and La Grange, October 28;
Missouri, Independence, November 7; Kentucky, Bowling Green, November
22; Franklin, Arctic Island, Cumberland Sound, September 14; Quebec,
Montreal, October 25; Maine, Skowhegan, October 24, and Scarboro,
November 5; Massachusetts, Dennis, November 1, Monomoy Island, November
12, and Marthas Vineyard, November 20; Rhode Island, Newport, November
4; Connecticut, Fairfield, October 31, and Portland, December 11; New
York, Orient, November 12, Montauk Point, November 20, and Branchport,
November 20; New Jersey, Elizabeth, October 30, and Five-mile Beach,
November 7; Pennsylvania, Beaver, November 6; League Island, November 9,
and State College, November 14; Maryland, Back River, November 13;
District of Columbia, Washington, November 2; and Bermuda, November 10.
_Casual records._--The greater yellow-legs has been detected outside of
the range above outlined on but one occasion, a specimen taken at Tresco
Abbey, Scilla Islands, England, on September 16, 1906.
_Egg dates._--Newfoundland and Labrador: 9 records, June 9 to 20.
British Columbia: 2 records, May 20 and 21.
TOTANUS FLAVIPES (Gmelin)
LESSER YELLOW-LEGS
HABITS
The lesser or "summer" yellow-legs is a smaller edition of the greater
or "winter" yellow-legs, and both are quite similar in behavior. The
lesser is more abundant and less shy, hence rather better known. The
seasonal names, applied to them by gunners, have been well chosen, as
the lesser comes to us in summer and the greater lingers with us almost
into winter. Both have the exasperating telltale habit of arousing the
neighborhood by their loud cries of alarm.
_Spring._--The lesser yellow-legs is a rare bird in New England in the
spring. The main flight from South America passes through the West
Indies to the Southern States and then northward through the Mississippi
Valley to the breeding grounds in central Canada. I have seen birds in
Florida as early as February 27; these may have been wintering birds,
for the main flight there comes during the latter part of March. I have
seen birds in Texas as late as May 17. C. J. Pennock's migration dates
for Delaware run from April 23 to May 29, where it is a regular spring
migrant. Long Island marks about its northern limit on the Atlantic
coast in spring. It usually arrives in southern Manitoba about the
middle or last of April; A. G. Lawrence sends me an unusually early
record for Whitewater Lake, April 8, 1925. From the first to the middle
of May it arrives on its breeding grounds in northern Alberta and
farther north, as far as the limit of trees. Dr. Joseph Grinnell (1900)
writes:
This proved to be a common bird in the Kowak Valley. Its arrival
was noted in the vicinity of our winter camp on May 19, and from
that day on its presence could hardly be overlooked, for as one
approached their domains the yellow-legs would fly to meet him,
uttering prolonged, monotonous cries. Besides these notes of alarm
the males had a full, melodious warble, sung for minutes at a time
as they flew slowly about overhead. Their favorite haunts appeared
to be the meadows lying between strips of timber, especially if
there was a shallow lake or pond in the vicinity.
_Nesting._--MacFarlane recorded in his notes some 30 nests of this
yellow-legs, found by him and his men in the wooded country about Fort
Anderson and its vicinity from 1862 to 1866. He speaks of it as "a very
noisy bird" that "will keep going before one, from tree to tree, for
several hundred yards beyond its nest." One nest is described as "near a
lake, a small hole in the ground, with a few decayed willow leaves
underneath the eggs"; another nest was "about 150 yards from a lake, on
a rising, thinly wooded piece of ground"; another was "on the face of a
low hill, or rising ground, in the midst of a tuft of hay, or rather of
a 'tête-de-femme,' made of a very few dead leaves in a depression";
others were "underneath or shaded by some stunted willows on the borders
of a swampy tract, lined with a few withered grasses."
J. Fletcher Street (1923) has published an interesting account of the
nesting habits of this species in Alberta, from which I quote as
follows:
As Mr. Thomson had told us we found the chosen nesting site of the
yellow-legs to be on relatively high ground at an elevation from a
few feet to a possible 30 feet or more above the level of the
ponds. Invariably the nests were found not closer than 100 feet
from the water's edge and sometimes as far away as 200 yards.
Generally a sloping bank, a ridge or a level plateau was chosen for
the immediate nesting site. No nests were noted in the heavily
forested area; all of those secured in the region about Belvedere
being found among broken hills covered with burnt and fallen timber
with a second growth largely of low poplars, the burnt stubs
affording excellent perches for the birds. Therefore the assumption
would be that amid normal conditions the species would select
rather open and high woodlands with sparse, low undergrowth within
a reasonable distance of marshy or grassy ponds.
It is not until the full clutch of eggs is laid that the birds
show that degree of concern which leads to their undoing. Then
there is great excitement on the nesting grounds. The female bird
will fly about with drooping legs and tail, keeping up an
incessant _kip, kip_, and alighting upon near-by stubs. In this
the male will join her, but not to the same degree, frequently,
after the initial rally, flying away to the lake. His darker
breast markings and slightly larger size readily identify him. If
the observer retires and conceals himself the excitement of the
female will gradually subside, she will fly from stub to stub, at
length become silent, look about inquiringly and take a short
flight to the ground and run to the nest. After settling she may
be approached within 4 feet before flushing which she does with a
loud call of alarm. While on the nest she sits low and close.
The nest is a mere depression in the ground, lined with a few
leaves or a small amount of dry grass, the cup having a diameter of
3.5 to 4 inches and a depth of 1.25 to 1.50 inches. It may be
located next to a stub, along a prostrate log or in the open.
Richard C. Harlow, who collected with Mr. Street in the same region,
tells me that this bird will sometimes scratch out several hollows
within a radius of 50 or 75 yards and line some of them with dry aspen
leaves before laying in the one selected. Three of the nests found by
Mr. Harlow were close to or between fallen burnt logs and one was in a
bushy situation in a clearing near the edge of some woods. The nests
were lined with dry leaves of poplar and aspen and a few dry grasses.
One set that he collected for me was at the base of a small bush on dry
barrens, half a mile from water. Richard H. Rauch in the same general
locality found a nest in what he calls an unusual location, 10 yards
from the margin of a small lake in a very wet muskeg; the nest was a
depression in the moss, lined with a few dry birch leaves.
_Eggs._--The yellow-legs lays four eggs, occasionally only three. These
are ovate pyriform in shape and have a slight gloss. The ground colors
usually vary from "olive-buff" to "cream-buff" and rarely from "honey
yellow" to "cartridge buff," or from "light pinkish cinnamon" to
"pinkish buff." The more richly colored eggs are often boldly and
handsomely marked. Some are quite evenly covered with small blotches and
spots; others also have large, irregular blotches and splashes, chiefly
about the larger end and often with a spiral trend. These markings are
in dark rich browns, "chocolate," "liver brown," "bay," and "chestnut
brown," sometimes deepening almost to black, where the pigment is
thickest. Many large underlying blotches and spots of various shades of
"purple-drab" and "ecru-drab" are conspicuous and add to the beauty of
the eggs. There is an albino egg in the national collection, creamy
white with only a few small pale brown spots. The measurements of 51
eggs average 42 by 28.9 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes
measure =45= by 30, 42 by =30.5=, =39.5= by 29.5, and 41 by =27.5=
millimeters.
_Young._--Incubation is shared by both sexes, but we have no information
as to its duration. MacFarlane found a pair of yellow-legs with three
recently hatched young "in a small watery swamp," where the young were
able to conceal themselves in the short grass. Mr. Street (1923) says:
Young were found for the first time on June 4. Both male and female
at this time were highly excited, the female approaching within 10
feet of us. All the young had left the nest and had taken refuge in
the shade of a log to escape the burning rays of the sun. No
eggshells were found in the nest or near by. As we retired from the
immediate locality the female flew down to the ground and softly
"kipped" as if to rally the scattered young. On the succeeding day
a nest was found which at 10 a. m. contained one young and two
eggs. At 12.30 p. m. all the birds had hatched and had left the
nest, being found quite a distance away. One bird was walking,
readily indicating that the migration to the water must start
within a few hours of the time that the young are out of the eggs.
After June 6 all the same excitement that characterized the action of
the adult birds at the nesting site was transplanted to the meadow
lands. One uninitiated in the ways of the species might easily suppose
that he was now upon the breeding grounds, for the young keep well
concealed and are difficult to discover. Perhaps the exhibition of the
adults at this time and the secretive habits of the birds during the
early days of the mating have tended to keep the nesting habits of the
lesser yellow-legs so long a mystery.
_Plumages._--In natal down the young yellow-legs is "pinkish buff" on
the back, shading off to "cartridge buff" on the crown, to paler buff on
the forehead and sides of the head and to pure white on the under parts;
there is an indistinct frontal black stripe; the crown is heavily
mottled with brownish black; a black stripe extends from the bill
through the eye to the nape; and there are three broad bands on the
center and sides of the back and large patches on the rump and thighs of
brownish black.
Young birds develop rapidly, the juvenal plumage coming in first on the
sides of the breast, scapulars, and wings. A young bird, taken July 10,
is nearly fully grown; the crown and neck fully feathered, the breast
nearly so, and the wings and tail nearly grown. In this fresh juvenal
plumage the feathers of the crown are tipped with whitish, and those of
the back, scapulars, and wing coverts are edged, tipped, or notched with
pale buff to white.
Subsequent molts and plumages are similar to and very much like those of
the greater yellow-legs. I have seen a number of birds in what I call
the first nuptial plumage migrating northward; they may breed in this
plumage. I have seen several adults molting their primaries in January
and February.
_Food._--The favorite feeding grounds of the yellow-legs are on flat
marshes near the coast, where the grass is short and where the high
course of tides or heavy rains leave the marshes partially covered, or
dotted, with shallow pools or splashes; away from the coast it is
equally at home in wet, short-grass marshes, mud flats, shallow ponds
and even wet places in cultivated fields. In such places it walks about
in an active manner, usually in shallow water, but often up to the full
length of its long legs, gleaning most of its food from the surface of
the water or mud and seldom probing for it. During one season on Monomoy
large numbers of yellow-legs frequented the drier parts of the meadows
where the long grass had been beaten down flat by the storms of the
previous winter. These places seemed to hold some strong attraction for
them, for they repeatedly returned after being driven off. While we
remained partially concealed in some clumps of tall grass, they
frequently alighted near us and ran nimbly about over the flattened
grass, darting rapidly in various directions to pick up food. The grass
was full of minute grasshoppers and other small insects on which they
were feeding. Evidently this food was unusually abundant that season,
for I have never seen them there in any numbers since 1921.
Arthur H. Howell (1924) says that, in Alabama, "this bird feeds mainly
on insects, including ants, bugs, flies, and grasshoppers, and on small
crustaceans, small fishes and worms." Dr. Alexander Wetmore (1916)
reporting on the food of four birds, taken in Porto Rico, says that
"water boatmen found in each of the four make 57.5 per cent, and two
stomachs contained nothing else. Crustacean remains, among which were
several crabs, were identified in two stomachs, and make the remainder,
42.5 per cent."
The contents of nine stomachs taken by Stuart T. Danforth (1925) in
Porto Rico were examined:
Dytiscid larvae formed 26.6 per cent of the animal matter, and
Hydrophilid larvae, 1.8 per cent; Bloodworms, 5.1 per cent;
Planorbia snails, 5 per cent; Fleabeetles 1.1 per cent; Hydrophilid
adults, 3.1 per cent; Dytiscid adult, 0.7 per cent; grasshoppers,
0.22 per cent; Bupestrid beetle, 0.55 per cent; Lycosid spider,
0.55 per cent; Notonectidae, 1 per cent; fish scales, 0.33 per
cent; Carabid beetle (Stenous sp.), 0.55 per cent; and other
beetles, 3.2 per cent.
_Behavior._--Either in flight or on the ground the two yellow-legs are
so much alike that one is often mistaken for the other, unless a direct
comparison in size can be made. William Brewster (1925) has expressed it
very well, as follows:
The summer yellow-legs seems an exact counterpart of the winter in
respect to general appearance and behavior. It has the same firm,
measured step, when walking about in quest of food; the same
perfection of form and outlines, and grace of position, when
standing erect and watchful; the same habit of tilting its body and
alternately lengthening and shortening its neck with a bobbing
motion, when suspicious of danger and about to take wing. Its
flight, also, is essentially similar to that of its big cousin, but
somewhat slower and more buoyant, and hence not so suggestive of
momentum as that of the larger, heavier-bodied bird.
The lesser yellow-legs is more universally common than the greater and
more apt to associate with other species of small waders, where it
towers above them, as it stalks gracefully about on its long legs. It is
more apt to be seen in large flocks, though the flocks are seldom
compact and are usually much scattered, especially when feeding. And it
is much less shy; although usually rather watchful and wary, not easily
approached by a moving object, it is often surprisingly tame. If the
observer is sitting down and motionless, even in plain sight, the birds
will often fly back and forth over him or even alight on the ground near
him.
I have often seen yellow-legs bathing, but Aretas A. Saunders (1926)
describes it better than I can, as follows:
To do this a bird would go to the deeper, clearer water forming the
mid-channel of the pond, the same spot where the black ducks bathed
earlier in the morning. There it would sit down in the water,
remaining still for a time. Then it would splash water over its
back and wings, duck its head, and sit still again. When sitting
thus in the water its tail was usually half spread, and resting on
or just under the water surface. When the bath was over the bird
would stand up, stretch its wings and then preen, taking care to go
over carefully all the feathers of the back, wing, and breast and
scratching with its toes those portions it could not reach with the
bill.
He observed them fighting also and says: