What does yellowlegs mean?
Yellowlegs is a chiefly North American name for either of two long-legged sandpipers: the greater yellowlegs and the lesser yellowlegs. Both birds are noted for their bright yellow or yellow-orange legs, which contrast conspicuously with their gray-brown plumage. They inhabit shorelines, marshes, mudflats, and other shallow-water areas, where they use their long, slender bills to find small aquatic animals. The word may look like a regular plural, but the established species names have identical singular and plural forms: one bird is properly a greater yellowlegs, while several are greater yellowlegs. Outside those fixed names, yellowleg is available as a singular and yellowlegs as its plural. Although yellowlegs can evoke the birds' vivid legs, the term is used broadly in birdwatching and does not imply a particular coloration of the rest of the plumage. The word is especially memorable because its grammatical number is less obvious than its appearance suggests.
noun (plural)Either of two long-legged sandpipers with conspicuous yellow legs, known as the greater yellowlegs and the lesser yellowlegs.
- Either of two medium-sized sandpipers in the genus Tringa, distinguished by their long bills and bright yellow or yellow-orange legs.
"A pair of yellowlegs probed the mud at the edge of the salt marsh."
"The lesser yellowlegs raced along the tidal flat, its bright legs flashing against the mud."
"Birdwatchers gathered at the marsh to observe migrating yellowlegs."
For the generic group noun, yellowleg is the singular and yellowlegs is the plural; in the fixed species names, yellowlegs serves for both singular and plural.
"Yellowlegs gathered around a pool left by the receding tide."
The name looks plural, yet a single bird can correctly be called a greater yellowlegs or a lesser yellowlegs.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Words that share this root
Related word forms
How yellowlegs is actually used
This is standard ornithological English rather than slang. The established species names use the same singular and plural form, so an individual may be called a greater yellowlegs or a lesser yellowlegs.
Easily confused with yellowlegs
Yellowlegs is a noun naming a group of birds, whereas yellow-legged is normally an adjective describing something with yellow legs.