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Greater or Lesser Yellowlegs? - Ottawa, ON (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter tril42
- Start date
I think this is right but I note that a fair bit of the "upturn" is optical illusion caused by the background
Andy Adcock
Worst person on Birdforum
Very poor light but it looks like a very slim, bill for Greater?
I thought that too, but it's clearly a fair bit longer than head width
birdmeister
Well-known member
Tough to get a real feel for how thick the bill base is, but my first thought on this blurry silhouette was Lesser.
tom baxter
Well-known member
Looks more like Lesser. Very thin bill, Greater has a thicker bill. I am not seeing an upturn at all, so to each their own on that I guess. Also it is slender, not much girth to the body.
Andy Adcock
Worst person on Birdforum
Completely agree, appears all round, too slender for Greater IMHO.
RafaelMatias
Unknown member
Lesser usually has a bill approx. as long as the head (bill measured from tip to insertion at the frons and head measured from bill insertion at the frons to the farthest point of the nape). Carefully measuring on the screen with an enlarged image I get approximately 36 units for head length and 40 units for bill lenght, producing a ratio of about 1.11
I think you cannot rule out Lesser, as that bill length/head length ratio seems to be within species variation. Photos can produce funny visual effects and that's why actually measuring does help in these cases.
I think you cannot rule out Lesser, as that bill length/head length ratio seems to be within species variation. Photos can produce funny visual effects and that's why actually measuring does help in these cases.
tom baxter
Well-known member
A greater has a thicker bill than a lesser though. I would definitely not say the bill thickness is impossible to judge here in my opinion.
Birdbrain22
Well-known member
Another vote for Lesser here.
Not sure how people are getting lesser here. The bill is way too long in proportion to the head. You can't really judge size of a lone bird. The thickness of the bill is less reliable than length in proportion to the head, and I don't really think you can judge thickness from this image anyway.
RafaelMatias
Unknown member
See post #11.
bronze sunbird
Well-known member
Lesser.
tom baxter
Well-known member
There’s a few subtle distinctions that I would present in response to this. You can judge size of a long bird when it comes to proportions in photos that are not too distant. This bird does not have the girth of Greater Yellowlegs. It is true that the length of the bill is slightly more reliable than the thickness I suppose, but the length of the bill is still spot on for Lesser Yellowlegs. In this photo, the bird is fairly close, it’s a reasonably good picture just with strong backlighting. If anything, a thicker bill would be more subject to trickery than a thinner bill. Any backlit aspect of the photo is going to show in strong contrast here, it definitely would not look smaller than it is. However, in this photo everything supports Lesser. It looks exactly like one in terms of body proportion, and bill thickness, bill length, and bill shape. A strongly backlit photo doesn’t negate the strong case for Lesser here.
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