Its closest relative is the Greater Yellowlegs, which together with the Spotted Redshank form a close-knit group.

Higher-powered optics make birds appear closer so they can be identified through the field marks that, for example, distinguish a lesser yellowlegs from a greater yellowlegs.

If they are present, Wilson's phalarope, American avocet, willet, sandpipers, Greater yellowlegs, and dowitchers will be easy to observe.

"I raised my binos to scan the shore, where I had willet, lesser yellowlegs and greater yellowlegs (No. 99) together in one view.

Those differences are often subtle: The greater yellowlegs has a long, slightly upturned bill and thicker leg joints, while the lesser yellowlegs has a straight bill.

Osprey nest north of Ellis Cove, and the mudflats and rocky beach host greater yellowlegs, western and Least sandpipers, and Dunlin.

The Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) is a large North American shorebird, similar in appearance to the smaller Lesser Yellowlegs.

Bird watching in the reeds along the lakeside is common as the park has populations of sandhill cranes, boreal owls, northern pygmy-owls, greater yellowlegs, western tangers and solitary sandpipers.

GREATER YELLOWLEGS Tringa melanoleuca.

In late July and in August, there will be wide range of birds at these feeding grounds, including various species of sandpipers, killdeer, lesser and greater yellowlegs, and great egrets.

"If you take the bill of a greater yellowlegs and hit the tip of the bill with a hammer to drive the tip of the bill back through the head, it will stick out the back of the head.

In the magnificent National Park Service refuge, where a lethally beaked greater yellowlegs can poise still and graceful as the World Trade Center on the western horizon, Mr. Riepe watches for warblers, egrets and ospreys.

Migrating birds that winter regularly at Richardson's Bay include Least sandpiper, Western Sandpiper, Spotted sandpiper, American avocet, Dunlin, Marbled godwit, Greater yellowlegs, Willet, Long-billed curlew and Dowitchers.

They are the greater yellowlegs, mallard duck, least sandpiper, great egret, snowy egret, herring gull, great black-backed gull, osprey, Canada goose, tree swallow, gray catbird, killdeer, glossy ibis, red-winged blackbird, northern mockingbird, least tern, piping plover and peregrine falcon.

The Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) is a large North American shorebird, similar in appearance to the smaller Lesser Yellowlegs.

GREATER YELLOWLEGS Tringa melanoleuca.