A medium chunky shorebird with extraordinarily long bill. Famous "winnowing" courtship flight produces eerie whirring sound from tail feathers.

Also called: Common Snipe

Native status: Native to North America

§ Quick facts

SizeBody 15–60 cm (6–24 in); wingspan 30–90 cm
Weight20–800 g
LifespanWild 5–15 years
OrderCharadriiformes
FamilyScolopacidae

§ Encyclopedia

Wilson's snipe is a small, stocky shorebird. The generic name Gallinago is Neo-Latin for a woodcock or snipe from Latin gallina, "hen" and the suffix -ago, "resembling". The specific name delicata is Latin for "dainty".

Source: Wikipedia — Wilson's snipe Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0

§ Identification

Field marks. Stocky, short-legged shorebird with a very long straight bill, bold buff-and-black stripes on the head and back, and a rich barred flank pattern. Flushes in a zigzag.

Similar species. American Woodcock is plump and rufous with a big head and lives in woods; the snipe's striped back and wetland habitat are distinctive.

Voice. A sharp, rasping 'scaip' when flushed; winnowing display is a hollow, accelerating 'huhuhuhu' made by the tail.

§ Diet & behavior

Diet. Invertebrates probed from mud, sand, or shallow water.

Behavior. A cryptic, long-billed bird of bogs and wet meadows; in display flight the male dives and the air rushing through its spread outer tail feathers makes an eerie, tremulous 'winnowing' hum.

§ Range

Across North America

§ Habitat

Wet meadows, marshes, bogs

§ Threats

Wetland drainage, climate change.

§ Conservation status

According to the IUCN Red List, the wilson's snipe is currently classified as Least Concern.

§ What helps

Support wetland conservation. Maintain wet meadow habitats.

Support our work More ways to help

§ Further reading

§ Sources cited

  • Cornell Lab of Ornithology — All About Birds
  • National Audubon Society
  • iNaturalist
  • IUCN Red List