Systematics

Family Scolopacidae, subfamily Scolopacinae, tribe Tringini (Am. Ornithol. Union 1983). Originally described as Scolopax melanoleuca Gmelin from Chateaux Bay, Labrador (Bannerman 1961).

Little geographic variation reported. Central Canadian birds have significantly longer wings than those from elsewhere in range (Prater et al. 1977; see Measurements, below). It has been suggested that western birds show more extensive white spotting above and duskier underparts than eastern birds (Ridgway 1919), but no quantitative study or other subsequent support for this idea.

No subspecies recognized.

Greater and Lesser yellowlegs were considered sister taxa in the genus Neoglottis by Ridgway (1919). Differences in skeletal features and details of adult plumage led Nichols (1923) to question this view; he suggested convergence, perhaps through mimicry. Others have supported the view that the yellowlegs are not sister taxa: Larson (1957) placed Greater Yellowlegs in a group with Common Greenshank, Spotted Greenshank (Tringa guttifer), and Marsh Sandpiper (T. stagnatilis); Mayr and Short (1970) considered them to form a superspecies with Common Greenshank. Further complicating matters, Chu’s (1995) recent reanalysis of Strauch’s (1978) osteological data (including all but one of the Tringa species) suggests that Spotted Redshank (T. erythropus) is most closely related to Greater Yellowlegs. Further complications within this group are discussed by Sill et al. (1988).