Wilson's Snipe

IDENTIFICATION: A medium-sized shorebird, with a mottled brown-and-black body, dark stripes on the head, and a long bill. Length: 28 cm.; weight: 100 g.

VOICE: A raspy alarm note as it flies away from danger. On the breeding ground, the maleÆs tail feathers produce an owl-like sound as the bird dives in a territorial flight display. Audio (M. Oberle).

HABITAT: Grasslands and wet fields, marshy edges of streams and canals.

HABITS: This shorebird feeds by probing deeply in mud for invertebrate prey. It feeds on insect larvae, worms, and small crustaceans and molluscs. The Snipe has a number of interesting anatomical adaptations. The tip of the long bill has small pits with sensory nerve endings that allow it to detect prey by touch. Its eyes are set farther back on the head than most other birds, an adaptation for detecting predators. The pectoral muscles make up 25% of the birdÆs body weight, more than in other sandpipers, producing a strong flight pattern. On the breeding grounds in North America, the female selects a nest site in a grassy area at the edge of water and lines the depression with grasses. She lays 3-4 eggs and does all the incubation for 18-20 days. The two parents split up the brood and lead them to feeding areas. Parents will also feed the young for the first two weeks. From August to November, flocks of Snipe migrate at night to winter grounds.

STATUS AND CONSERVATION: An uncommon, local winter resident. This bird is legally hunted in North America and in Puerto Rico, but is a challenge to shoot since it has an erratic, zigzag, flight pattern.

RANGE: It breeds in northern North America and winters in much of the USA, Central America and the West Indies, south to Colombia, Venezuela and the Guianas. A regular place to find this species is at the Caño Tiburones Nature Reserve.

TAXONOMY: CHARADRIIFORMES; SCOLOPACIDAE; Scolopacinae. Formerly called Common Snipe. Recently taxonomists have split the Wilson's Snipe from the Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) which nests in Asia and Europe.

Photo: G. Beaton

References

Bent, A.C. 1927. Life histories of North American shore birds, part 1. Smithsonian Instit. U.S. National Museum Bull. 142. (Reprinted by Dover Press, NY, 1962).

del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott, and J. Sargatal, eds. 1996. Handbook of Birds of the World, Vol. 3. Hoatzin to Auks. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.

Ehrlich, P.R., D.S. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1988. The birderÆs handbook: a field guide to the natural history of North American birds. Simon and Schuster/Fireside, NY.

Hayman, P., J. Marchant, and T. Prater. 1986. Shorebirds: an identification guide. Houghton Mifflin, Boston.

Mueller, H. 1999. Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) in The birds of North America (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). No. 417. The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.

Ortiz Rosas, P. 1981. Guía del cazador: aves de caza y especies protegidas. Depto. de Recursos Naturales, San Juan, PR.

Paulson, D. 1993. Shorebirds of the Pacific Northwest. Univ Washington, Seattle.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. A guide to the birds of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Princeton.

Raffaele, H.A. 1989. Una guía a las aves de Puerto Rico y las Islas Vírgenes. Publishing Resources, Inc., Santurce, PR.

Raffaele, H.A., J.W. Wiley, O.H. Garrido, A.R. Keith, and J.I. Raffaele. 1998. Guide to the birds of the West Indies. Princeton.

Wilson's Snipe, Spanish text

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