Gallinago gallinago — Details

This species has a large global population estimated to be >5,400,000-7,500,000 individuals¹.

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Source: IUCN

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Geographic Range

The Common Snipe, Gallinago gallinago, is found throughout North America, Eurasia, South America and Africa. They spend winters in the more temperate climates of northern South America and central Africa (Peterson, 1961: Burton and Burton, 1970)

Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native ); palearctic (Native ); ethiopian (Native ); neotropical (Native )

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Physical Description

Morphology

Physical Description

The Common Snipe is a small to medium sized wading bird. Shorter legs and neck distinguish it from other waders. It is generally 26.7 cm (10.5 inches) long, with a long, straight, slender bill about 6.4 cm (2.5 inches) long.In flight the Snipe displays the long pointed wings characteristic of wading birds. The female typically weighs about 115 grams. The male snipe is larger, generally weighing about 130 grams. The adult snipe has a brown body that is striped with black. There is black stripes across the eyes, which are set back on the head, away from the bill. The adult has a black bill, and legs that are olive in color. The female of the species is similar in coloration to the male. The down of the juvenile snipe is marbled brown and black, which provides excellent camouflage. This down is striped with black and speckled with white. The legs of the young bird are grayish, and the bill is black (Burton and Burton, 1970; Peterson, 1961; "Birds of the Great Lakes," on-line).

Range mass: 115 to 130 g.

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Ecology

Habitat

Habitat and Ecology

Habitat and Ecology

Behaviour This species is fully migratory although some populations only migrate short distances². It breeds from April to August³ in solitary territorial pairs and after breeding it moves to moulting areas before migrating south to the wintering grounds². It is not a truly gregarious species⁶ although it usually forages in small groups², occasionally also gathering in larger flocks of several hundred during migration or in the winter³. The species is also generally crepuscular in its activities². Habitat Breeding The species breeds on fresh or brackish marshland with rich or tussocky vegetation^{2, 3} including grassy or marshy edges of lakes and rivers², marshy bogs and moors⁴, marshy tundra, wet meadows², peat bogs, fens, swamps (North America)⁴ and swampy forest⁵. Non-breeding In its wintering range the species frequents similar habitats to those it breeds in^{2, 3} including permanent and temporary swamps, the marshy edges of lakes and dams, flooded sedge and grassland⁷, also utilising more artificial habitats such as damp farmland³ (e.g. cattle pastures, sugar-cane fields⁴, rice-fields²), sewage farms² and drainage ditches⁴. The species may also move to more coastal areas such as the upper reaches of estuaries and coastal meadows² during periods of frost⁶. Diet Its diet consists of adult and larval insects, earthworms, small crustaceans² (e.g. isopods and amphipods)⁴, small gastropods, spiders², small amphibians (Africa)⁷ and occasionally plant fibres, seeds and grit⁴. Breeding site The nest is a shallow scrape⁶ positioned on dry ground in marshes, fens, swamps and bogs⁴ (e.g. on a mound or sedge tuft)⁵ in the cover of grass, rushes, sedge or sphagnum moss². The species nests in solitary territorial pairs at densities of between 10 and 38 or up to 110 pairs per kilometre². Management information Studies in Danish coastal wetlands found that the spatial restriction of shore-based shooting was more successful at maintaining waterfowl population sizes than was the temporal restriction of shooting, and therefore that wildfowl reserves should incorporate shooting-free refuges that include adjacent marshland in order to ensure high waterbird species diversity¹³. The species is known to show increased hatching successes when ground predators have been excluded by erecting protective fences around nesting areas¹⁵. At a reserve in the UK management strategies such as reseeding grasslands to be dominated by rushes Juncus spp. and purple moor-grass Molinia caerulea, mechanical cutting and grazing, digging small scrapes and maintaining high water-levels succeeded in attracting an increased number of breeding pairs to the area¹⁶. The annual success of reproduction is estimated every year by wing surveys in Denmark since the 1970s and in France since the mid-1990s¹⁸. Hunting bags are estimated every year in Denmark¹⁸.

Systems

Terrestrial
Freshwater
Marine

Source: IUCN

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Habitat

The Common Snipe can be found in open areas with enough low vegetation to provide cover. These areas include marshes, canals, stream banks, bogs, and wet meadows, and even Arctic tundra. Nests are generally a grass-lined hollows in wet meadows, or marsh (Burton and Burton, 1970; Peterson, 1961).

Terrestrial Biomes: tundra ; savanna or grassland ; forest ; scrub forest

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Depth range based on 15 specimens in 2 taxa.
Water temperature and chemistry ranges based on 11 samples.

Environmental ranges
  Depth range (m): 0 - 0
  Temperature range (°C): 6.847 - 11.796
  Nitrate (umol/L): 1.865 - 10.668
  Salinity (PPS): 31.601 - 35.177
  Oxygen (ml/l): 6.196 - 7.119
  Phosphate (umol/l): 0.256 - 0.661
  Silicate (umol/l): 1.647 - 5.008

Graphical representation

Temperature range (°C): 6.847 - 11.796

Nitrate (umol/L): 1.865 - 10.668

Salinity (PPS): 31.601 - 35.177

Oxygen (ml/l): 6.196 - 7.119

Phosphate (umol/l): 0.256 - 0.661

Silicate (umol/l): 1.647 - 5.008

Note: this information has not been validated. Check this *note*. Your feedback is most welcome.

Public Domain

Source: Ocean Biogeographic Information System

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Trophic Strategy

Food Habits

The Common Snipe consumes mostly worms. However, it also feeds on insects, crustaceans, and mollusks, as well as occasional seeds and berries. The snipe feeds in the muddy shallows at the edge of lakes, streams, and ponds, or in swamp mud. The bill of the Common Snipe is specially adapted for the type of food it consumes and the habitat in which it lives. It is able to open the tip of its bill while the entire bill is underground. This unique adaption allows the bird to eat small animals without having to pull its bill out of the mud (Burton and Burton, 1970; Peterson, 1961).

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Life History and Behavior

Life Expectancy

Lifespan/Longevity

Average lifespan

Status: wild: 111 months.

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Lifespan, longevity, and ageing

Maximum longevity: 18.2 years (wild)

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Source: AnAge

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Reproduction

The breeding season of the Common Snipe spans from the middle part of April to August. The male snipe lures females by using a distinctive technique called "drumming." Early in the breeding season, the female snipe may have many mates. As the season passes, however, the female will settle in with one mate. The eggs of the Common Snipe are olive-brown in coloration and spotted. The eggs are typically about 39 by 28 mm in size. The clutch generally consists of four eggs. Incubation lasts approximately three weeks. Parents share the responsibilities of feeding the young. The adults divide the brood in half and each adult cares for half of the chicks. This goes on for approximately two weeks, when the chicks begin to fly (Peterson, 1961; Burton and Burton, 1970, "Birds of the Great Lakes", on-line).

Average time to hatching: 19 days.

Average eggs per season: 4.

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Molecular Biology and Genetics

Molecular Biology

Barcode data: Gallinago gallinago

The following is a representative barcode sequence, the centroid of all available sequences for this species.

There are 15 barcode sequences available from BOLD and GenBank. Below is a sequence of the barcode region Cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 (COI or COX1) from a member of the species. See the BOLD taxonomy browser for more complete information about this specimen and other sequences.

BON052-06|NHMO-BC52|Gallinago gallinago| ------------TTTTCTCCAACCCACAAAGACATTGGCACCCTATACTTAATCTTTGGTGCATGAGCTGGTATAGTCGGAACCGCCCTT---AGCCTACTCATTCGTGCAGAGCTAGGCCAACCAGGAACTCTTCTAGGGGAC---GACCAAATTTATAACGTAATCGTCACTGCCCATGCTTTCGTTATAATCTTCTTTATAGTCATGCCAATTATAATTGGCGGCTTTGGAAACTGACTAGTCCCACTCATA---ATTGGTGCCCCAGACATAGCATTTCCTCGCATAAATAACATAAGCTTCTGATTACTTCCCCCATCATTCTTACTATTACTAGCATCATCTACAGTAGAAGCAGGAGCTGGAACAGGATGAACAGTATATCCCCCTCTTGCCGGAAACCTAGCTCATGCTGGCGCTTCAGTAGACCTA---GCCATCTTTTCCCTTCACCTAGCAGGTGTCTCCTCTATCCTAGGCGCCATCAACTTTATCACAACTGCCATCAACATAAAACCCCCAGCTCTCTCTCAATACCAAACCCCTTTATTCGTATGATCTGTACTCATCACCGCTGTACTTCTTCTACTTTCCCTTCCTGTACTTGCTGCC---GGCATCACTATATTATTAACAGACCGAAACCTAAACACTACATTCTTCGACCCAGCTGGAGGAGGAGACCCAGTTTTATACCAACACCTTTTCTGATTCTTTGGTCACCCAGAAGTCTACATCCTAATTTTACCAGGATTTGGAATTATCTCCCAC-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-- end --

Download FASTA File

Source: Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD)

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Statistics of barcoding coverage: Gallinago gallinago

Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLDS) Stats
Public Records: 15
Species: 21
Species With Barcodes: 1

Source: Barcode of Life Data Systems (BOLD)

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Conservation

Conservation Status

IUCN Red List Assessment

Red List Category

Least Concern

Red List Criteria

Version

3.1

Year Assessed

2009

Assessor/s

BirdLife International

Reviewer/s

Bird, J., Butchart, S.

Contributor/s

Ferrand, Y.

Justification

This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence <20,000 km2 combined with a declining or fluctuating range size, habitat extent/quality, or population size and a small number of locations or severe fragmentation). Despite the fact that the population trend appears to be decreasing, the decline is not believed to be sufficiently rapid to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population trend criterion (>30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size is extremely large, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (<10,000 mature individuals with a continuing decline estimated to be >10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

History

2008

Least Concern
2005

Least Concern
2004

Not Recognized
2000

Not Recognized

Source: IUCN

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Conservation Status

Human development of wetlands has displaced migrating shorebirds, including the Common Snipe. This development includes swamp drainage, farming, and canals. The result has concentrated more birds at undeveloped foraging sites, producing overpopulation and overfeeding. Research has shown however, that manmade wetlands projects can produce suitable foraging grounds, and even makes up for sites lost to development (Twedt, Nelms, Rettig, and Aycock, 1998).

US Federal List: no special status

CITES: no special status

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern

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Status in Egypt

Regular passage visitor and winter visitor.

Source: Bibliotheca Alexandrina

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IUCN

Least Concern.

Source: Bibliotheca Alexandrina

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Trends

Population

Population

Total regarded as a minimum by Wetlands International (2006).

Source: IUCN

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Threats

Major Threats

The species is threatened by habitat changes such as wetland drainage² and grassland improvement² (e.g. through drainage, inorganic fertilising and reseeding)¹⁴. Important migratory stop-over habitats in the Kaliningrad region of Russia are also threatened by petroleum pollution, wetland and flood-plain drainage (for irrigation and water management), peat-extraction, reedbed mowing and burning, and abandonment and changing land management practices leading to scrub and reed overgrowth⁷. The species suffers from lead poisoning as a result of ingesting lead shot deposited on wetlands^{10, 11, 12}, suffers nest predation by introduced mammals (e.g. European hedgehog Erinaceus europaeus) on islands¹⁵, and is susceptible to avian influenza so may be threatened by future outbreaks of the viurs⁸. Utilisation The species is hunted for sport (e.g. in Denmark)⁹.

Source: IUCN

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Relevance to Humans and Ecosystems

Benefits

Economic Importance for Humans: Negative

The displacement of migrating shorebirds like the Common Snipe and other animals from drained and developed wetlands threatens the economic interests of several different groups, including farmers and real estate developers. Recent laws passed to protect the displaced animals, (some of them are classified as either endangered or threatened), have disallowed many property owners from using their own land.

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Wikipedia

Common Snipe

The Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) is a small, stocky wader native to the Old World. The breeding habitat is marshes, bogs, tundra and wet meadows throughout northern Europe and northern Asia. It is migratory, with European birds wintering in southern and western Europe and Africa (south to the Equator), and Asian migrants moving to tropical southern Asia.

1 Description
2 Ecology
3 Conservation
4 History
5 References
6 External links

Description

G. g. faeroeensis in Iceland

Adults are 25–27 cm in length with a 44–47 cm wingspan and a weight of 80–140 g (up to 180 g pre-migration). They have short greenish-grey legs and a very long (5.5–7 cm) straight dark bill. The body is mottled brown with straw-yellow stripes on top and pale underneath. They have a dark stripe through the eye, with light stripes above and below it. The wings are pointed.^[2]^[3]

It is the most widespread of several similar snipes. It most closely resembles the Wilson's Snipe G. delicata of North America, which was until recently considered to be a subspecies G. g. delicata of Common Snipe. They differ in the number of tail feathers, with seven pairs in G. gallinago and eight pairs in G. delicata; the North American species also has a slightly wider white edge to the wings.^[4]^[5] Both species breed in the Aleutian Islands.^[2] It is also very similar to the Pin-tailed Snipe G. stenura and Swinhoe's Snipe G. megala of eastern Asia; identification of these species there is complex.^[6]

There are two subspecies of Common Snipe, G. g. faeroeensis in Iceland, the Faroes, Shetland and Orkney (wintering in Britain and Ireland), and G. g. gallinago in the rest of the Old World.

Ecology

G. g. gallinago at Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, Rajasthan, India.

It is a well camouflaged bird, it is usually shy and conceals itself close to ground vegetation and flushes only when approached closely. When flushed, they utter a sharp note that sounds like scape, scape and fly off in a series of aerial zig-zags to confuse predators.^[7] They forage in soft mud, probing or picking up food by sight. They mainly eat insects and earthworms, also some plant material.^[3]

	Common Snipe An example of the "drumming" sound.
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

The male performs "winnowing" display during courtship, flying high in circles and then taking shallow dives to produce a "drumming" sound by vibrating its tail feathers. This sound has been compared by others to the bleating of a sheep or goat; hence in many languages the Snipe is known by names signifying “Flying Goat,” “Heaven's Ram,” as in Scotland by “Heather-bleater”^[7] and in Finnish the name taivaanvuohi, "sky goat". Common Snipe nest in a well-hidden location on the ground, laying four eggs of a dark olive colour, blotched and spotted with rich brown,^[7] which are incubated by the female for 18–21 days. The young when freshly hatched are covered in down of a dark maroon, variegated with black, white and buff.^[7] The young are cared for by both parents, each parent looking after half the brood, with fledging in 10–20 days.^[2]^[3]

Conservation

Overall, the species is not threatened. Populations on the southern fringes of the breeding range in Europe are however declining with local extinction in some areas (notably in parts of England and Germany), mainly due to field drainage and agricultural intensification.^[2] The Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies to the species. It is still hunted as a gamebird in much of its range.^[2]

History

Old folk names include "mire snipe", "horse gowk", "heather bleat", and the variant spelling "snite".^[8] See also snipe for other aspects of the name.

References

^ BirdLife International (2005). Gallinago gallinago. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Hoyo, J. del, et al., eds. (1996). Handbook of the Birds of the World, vol. 3. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. pp. 496. ISBN 84-87334-20-2.
^ ^a ^b ^c Snow, D. W., & Perrins, C. M. (1998). The Birds of the Western Palearctic, Concise Edition (Vol. 1), Oxford University Press, Oxford.
^ Leader, P. (1999). Identification forum: Common Snipe and Wilson's Snipe Birding World 12(9): 371-4
^ Reid, M. (2008). Identification of Wilson's and Common Snipe British Birds 101 (4): 189-200.
^ Carey, G. & Olsson, U. (1995). Field Identification of Common, Wilson's, Pintail and Swinhoe's Snipes. Birding World 8 (5): 179-190.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Snipe". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
^ Lockwood, W. B. (1984). The Oxford Book of British Bird Names. Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-214155-4.

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