Common (Wilson's) Snipe? Ottawa, ON (1 Viewer)

[Gillian_M]

The man who pointed this bird out to me called it a Woodcock, but after checking my field guides I don't believe it is. I think it's a Snipe instead. (and I'm not sure what the deal is with Common and Wilson's Snipe - are they the same bird? Cornell's website calls it Wilson's but my Ontario field guide calls it Common). My reasoning for this is that the woodcock has unmarked, buffy undersides whereas the snipe has white undersides with brown streaks (as my bird appears to have). Also, the woodcock has transverse bars on its head whereas the snipe has longitudinal stripes (as my bird appears to have although it's hard to tell with the quality of the photos). Finally, while not conclusive, woodcocks occur in more wooded habitats whereas this bird was seen on the edge of the Ottawa River at an urban park.

Can anyone confirm or correct this ID? Sorry for the poor quality of the photos, the bird was rather far away and I couldn't get any closer without losing him in the cattails!

 

[Progne Subis]

It's a Wilson's Snipe all right.

 

[streatham]

It's a Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata) - Wilson's basically got seperated off as a species from the eurasian Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago). If I recall this correctly, these two birds were listed as separate species years ago, were then lumped together as Common Snipe, and have now been split again.

Luke

 

[Gillian_M]

Thanks, Tayler and Luke!

It's a Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata) - Wilson's basically got seperated off as a species from the eurasian Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago). If I recall this correctly, these two birds were listed as separate species years ago, were then lumped together as Common Snipe, and have now been split again.

Luke

Wow, that's confusing! Are both found in North America?

 

[streatham]

Thanks, Tayler and Luke!



Wow, that's confusing! Are both found in North America?

Hi Gillian,

I don't know how many european birders even consider them to be a seperate species. Here is a webpage on seperating the two species though http://www.oceanwanderers.com/WISNP.html Apparently both Common and Wilson's Snipe are on the AOU ABA Area Checklist so there must be accepted reports of Common Snipe from the ABA area: http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bbowman/birds/updates/abalist1.html Basically if you see a Snipe in the US for now it should be called a Wilson's Snipe.


Luke

 

[Chris Benesh]

Hi All,

Though it is hardly mainland USA, the Common Snipe sensu strictu occurs regularly in migration on various offshore islands off of western Alaska. I have seen it myself a few times on St. Paul Island (Pribilofs), for example. While Common and Wilson's snipes are quite similar visually (as are most snipe in fact), they differ rather noticeably in the mechanical sound produced during their flight displays (not surprising since they differ in the number and shape of tail feathers). I actually got to hear Commons displaying out on St. Paul this year, which was quite a treat for me. They are more buzzy, electronic sounding than Wilson's.

Chris

 

[AlexC]

I'm actually friends with the guy who wrote up the proposal for the AOU to split Wilson's and Common - Jon Dunn of the AOU's Committee of Classification & Nomenclature.