The Greater Yellowlegs, referred to locally as twillick, is reported to have been eaten in May, September and October by the Micmac (Mi'kmaq) [1]. The Lesser Yellowlegs was also used as food by the Hare (Sahtu), who roasted or grilled them over a fire or boiled or fried them [2]. The Red Earth Cree are also reported to have eaten yellowlegs [3].
References
1. Mackey MGA, Bernard L, Smith BS: Country Food Consumption by Selected Households of the Micmac in Conne River Newfoundland in 1985-86. In.; 1986.
2. Hara HS: The Hare Indians and Their World. In. Ottawa: National Museums of Canada; 1980: 95-147.
3. Meyer D: Appendix I: Plants, Animals and Climate; Appendix IV: Subsistence-Settlement Patterns. In: The Red Earth Crees, 1860-1960. Volume 1st edition, edn.: National Musem of Man Mercury Series; 1985: 175-185-200-223.
Yellowlegs are part of a large family of wading and probing shorebirds including sandpipers, snipes, whimbrels, phalaropes, woodcocks, godwits, and dowitchers. Yellowlegs are delicately-built and have a long, fine bill, a long neck, long, bright yellow legs, and feet with hind toes and limited webbing. They are all migratory traveling from their northern breeding range to their southern wintering range [1]. North American yellowlegs include the Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca), breeding across central Canada and southern Alaska [2], and the Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes), breeding across boreal regions from Alaska to the eastern James Bay coast [3].
References
1. Richards AJ: Seabirds of the Northern Hemisphere. Limpsfield: Dragon's World; 1990.
2. Elphick CS, Tibbitts TL: Greater Yellowleg (Tringa melanoleuca). In: The Birds of North America Online. Edited by Poole A. Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; 1998.
3. Tibbitts TL, Moskoff W: Lesser Yellowleg (Tringa flavipes). In: The Birds of North America Online. Edited by Poole A. Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; 1999.