Common Snipe - BirdForum Opus

Gallinago gallinago

Photo by IanF
Dormans Pool, Billingham, UK

Identification

Brown back with creamy stripes. Striped head with cream central stripe. White belly, barred flanks. Long bill.

Distribution

Breeds in northern Palearctic; winters in southern Europe, Africa, and Asia.

Taxonomy

Formerly contained Wilson's Snipe (delicata), now recognized as a full species.

Subspecies¹

• G. g. faeroeensis - breeds in Iceland, Faeroe Is., Orkney Is. and Sheltand Is.; winters to British Isles
• G. g. gallinago - protected by the AEWA²; breeds in N Palearctic and Aleutian Is.; winters to Africa, India, Indonesia

Habitat

The breeding habitat is marshes, bogs, tundra and wet meadows in Iceland, the Faroes, northern Europe and Russia. Common Snipe nest in a well-hidden location on the ground.

Behaviour

This well camouflaged bird is usually shy and conceals itself close to ground vegetation and flushes only when approached closely. They fly off in a series of aerial zig-zags to confuse predators. Snipe hunters, therefore, needed to be very skilled to hunt these birds and they came to be called snipers - a term later adopted by the military.

The song has been described as "Chipper Chipper."

Bird Song

<flashmp3>Gallinago gallinago (song).mp3</flashmp3>
Listen in an external program

Reference

1. Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds.

External Links

• A thread describing the differences between this species and Wilson's Snipe is found [here]

Search for photos of Common Snipe in the gallery

• View more images of this species on Orientalbirdimages