Discover the Flyway from Home – Resources for Teachers, Parents & Students

Bird adaptions – Why the long legs and beak?

Many wetland birds can share the same “restaurant” (in this case a pond in the wetlands) because they choose different items on the menu. Part of the way we know what they eat is by the shape of their beak. Can you identify this bird and decide what it may be eating? Also, why do you think it has long legs?  

 

 

 

Answer:

The Greater Yellowlegs is a fairly tall shorebird. It uses its long bill to stab. It eats mostly aquatic invertebrates, but will eat other things like small fish, if it can catch them. They have long legs to wade in the mudflats and keep themselves above the mud and water.