Greater Yellowlegs vs Willet: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, April 2026 — While not nearly as difficult as yesterday’s comparison (Purple and House Finch), the Greater Yellowlegs and the Willet are often seen together as the Yellowlegs pass through southern Maine on the way to their breeding grounds. The Willets nest here and are around at least through mid-summer. Of course, if you can get a clear look at the legs, the Yellowlegs is unmistakable, but sometimes you cannot see the legs at all, or the birds are too distant for the color to make an impression. This is a Greater Yellowlegs, by the way, and you can tell by the length of the bill compared to the head, and by size if you have the two Yellowlegs together. Though there is overlap in size between the GYL and the Willet, the Willet is slightly larger, and definitely more “chesty”—it carries its weight further forward and makes the GYL look quite slender and elegant by comparison. Think hockey player and figure skater. You can see this difference from a much greater distance than the color of the legs. Also, the Willet is a brown bird, and the Yellowlegs is a grey bird. That too can be seen from a distance if you are paying attention. If the legs are hidden, the bill on the GYL is thinner, and solid black, while the Willet’s bill is thicker and noticeably bi-colored, with a lighter base near the face of the bird. But it is not about what I see. It is about what you see, and these two photos give you a chance to figure that out for yourselves 🙂 And in reality it is not about individual details at all. It is about overall impression. Good birders do not identify birds, they recognize them, the way we recognize an old friend we have not seen in months all the way across a parking lot. Sony a7CR. Tamron 50-400 at about 1000mm equivalent field of view (heavily cropped). Program with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator. Assembled in FrameMagic.