yellow-leggedadj.
/ˈjɛlə(ʊ)lɛɡ(ᵻ)d/, U.S. /ˈjɛloʊˌlɛɡ(ə)d/ In the names of birds and other animals: having yellow or yellowish legs.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > parts of or bird defined by > [adjective] > of legs > having particular colour legs
black-legged?1523
red-legged1611
yellow-legged1752
1752 J. Hill Gen. Nat. Hist. III. 340 The yellow-legged Falco.
1763 R. Brookes New Syst. Nat. Hist. IV. v. 134 The yellow-legged Tenthredo is not much larger than a Flea.
1816 ‘B. Moubray’ Pract. Treat. Poultry (ed. 2) 59 Yellow legged fowls are often of a tender constitution.
1887 D. Macdonald Gum Boughs 146 Yellow-legged minahs, tamest of all Australian birds.
1908 Iowa State Reg. & Farmer 3 Jan. 10/2 (advt.) Nicest Barred Rock Cockerels we ever raised: yellow legged, vigorous fellows, of large size and sure to please.
1995 R. C. Stebbins & N. W. Cohen Nat. Hist. Amphibians xx. 226 He returned in 1988 and 1989 and found no Yellow-legged Frogs anywhere in the northern Sierra.
2010 Independent 21 Sept. 14/3 Researchers analysed 57 samples of droppings from the yellow-legged gull Larus cachinnans.
Compounds
yellow-legged plover n. North American either of the two species of yellowlegs, Tringa flavipes and T. melanoleuca.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Charadriiformes > family Scolopacidae (snipes, etc.) > [noun] > member of genus Tringa > tringa flavipes (yellow-legs)
yellow-legged plover1778
yellowshank1785
telltale1813
yellow leg1889
1778 C. Blagden Let. in Bull. N.Y. Publ. Libr. (1903) 7 432 The yellow-legged Plover, so called from the colour of its legs & feet, a species of scolopax, very common at this season, but not all delicate to eat.
1895 Canad. Mag. Feb. 313/2 The yellow-legged plover stood in undisturbed and curious gravity, watching us from the banks.
1923 Frederick (Maryland) Post 22 Aug. 3/5 Following are bag limits per day: Partridge, 12; grouse, 2;..yellow legged plover, 15; black-breasted plover, 5.
2017 A. M. Appel tr. C. Magris Blameless 217 Her father had seen that island's mangroves..and the small yellow-legged plovers that flew into their tangled maze to catch fish and insects with their long black beaks.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, January 2018; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.1752