Page 198 - Complete Birds of Britain and Europe (DK - RSPB)

WADERS
Order Charadriiformes Family Scolopacidae Species Gallinago gallinago
Snipe boldly striped head
with cream centre
dark brown back extremely
with long, broad
dark wings cream stripes long bill,
with pale angled down
trailing edge

streaked
breast
rufous- IN FLIGHT barred flanks white belly
centred
tail

inserts long
bill into mud
to find food

he Snipe needs floods and oozy, watery mud, which allow its
Textraordinarily long, thin bill to be inserted into the ground so FLIGHT: quick, rolling from side to side with flicked
that it can detect and grasp worms; it cannot survive for very long beats of angled-back wings; sudden, fast escape
without soft ground.With the increasing drying out or tidying up flight; settles with sudden flurry of wings.
of the modern landscape, with water constrained into
firm channels, the Snipe and its remarkable spring
displays have disappeared from vast areas of its former
range. It is still seen at the edge of marshes, or
occasionally flushed from almost underfoot amongst
wet rushes.While displaying, it has a high, steeply
undulating flight and dives with its tail fanned out.
VOICE Sharp, short, rasping scaap!; in spring, bright,
rhythmic, musical chip-per, chip-per, chip-per from perch;
also short, wavering, throbbing “bleat” from tail
feathers in switchback display flight.
NESTING Grass-lined shallow scrape in dense RESTING
vegetation; 4 eggs; 1 or 2 broods;April–July. This medium-sized wader may sit quietly for long spells beside a tussock
FEEDING Probes deeply in soft mud for worms. of rushes or grass and is less active than most other waders.
SIMILAR SPECIES OCCURRENCE
Prefers wet marshes and boggy
JACK SNIPE shorter WOODCOCK barred heaths at all times, breeding
reluctant to fly; bill see p.195 head through NW and N Europe. Outside
see p.197
breeding season, in all kinds of
smaller freshwater marshes with shallow
water and soft mud, moving to
coasts in freezing conditions.
bigger
Seen in the UK
J F M A M JJ A S O N D
Length 25–28cm (10–11in) Wingspan 37–43cm (14 1 ⁄2 –17in) Weight 80–120g (2 7 ⁄8 –4oz)
Social Small flocks Lifespan 5–10 years Status Secure†
196