The Greater Yellowlegs is a familiar, fairly common migratory and winter resident in our area. They mostly seek out freshwater sites such as flooded swales in pastures, flooded ditch edges and similar sites. They are uncommonly encountered along river gravel beds in the interior. Greater Yellowlegs forage in shallow water, seizing prey at or just below the surface. They rarely probe into substrates.
Food consists largely of invertebrates, but some small fish also are taken.
This species nests mostly in muskeg forest of Alaska and Canada, more rarely in subalpine scrub lands and in subarctic tundra. Typical nests are located in open meadow-type grasslands dotted with ponds and surrounded by boreal forests of birches, aspens, spruce, and fir. Eggs are laid in a depression in moss or dry peat and the nest may be sparsely lined with fine grass. Most nesting activity occurs in May-June. The average clutch is 4 eggs.