Great Snipe
Gallinago media
Slightly bigger and stockier than Common Snipe, with a long and thick bill, heavily barred belly and contrasting upperwing pattern with dark underwings. Flushes at close range; escape flight is usually slow and short. Typically quiet and silent. Breeds in remote wet meadows or in mountain bogs where males lek (display together). Usually found at marshes on migration; autumn migrants make a direct nonstop flight to tropical African wintering grounds.
Identification
At 26–30 cm (10–12 in) in length and a 42–50 cm (17–20 in) wingspan, adults are only slightly larger, but much bulkier, than the common snipe and have a shorter bill. The body is mottled brown on top and barred underneath. They have a dark stripe through the eye. The wings are broad, and a pale wingbar is visible in flight.<p>The voice is described as a faint yeah. Mating display calls of groups can be heard at long distances (more than 300 m (330 yd)) and sound like a mixture of firecracker wind-up xylophone sounds.
Taxonomy
The great snipe was described by the English naturalist John Latham in 1787 with the binomial name Scolopax media. The name of the current genus Gallinago is Neo-Latin for a woodcock or snipe from Latin gallina, "hen" and the suffix -ago, "resembling". The specific media is Latin for "intermediate", because this species is intermediate in size between the woodcock and the common snipe.
- Scientific name
- Gallinago media
- Authority
- (Latham, 1787)
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Scolopacidae
- Genus
- Gallinago
Range and habitat
- Breeding range
- PAL : subarctic to temperate meadows of nw Palearctic: w, n Scandinavia and e Poland through w Russia to Yenisei River (w Siberia)
- Non-breeding range
- AF : wet grassland of tropical and subtropical Sub-Saharan Africa
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
The birds are noted for their fast, non-stop flying capabilities over huge distances. They can fly up to 97 km/h (60 mph), with researchers finding little evidence of wind assistance. Some have been recorded to fly non-stop for 84 hours over 6,760 km (4,200 mi) at altitudes up to 8700 metres. Their wings are not especially aerodynamic, lacking pointed tips, and they typically do not stop to feed despite having opportunities. The birds instead rely on stores of fat.<p>At dusk during the breeding season, the males display at a lek (arena), standing erect with chest puffed and tail fanned out. They may jump into the air, and will produce a variety of rattles, clicks, buzzes and whistles while displaying. Three to four eggs are laid in a well-hidden nest on the ground.<p>These birds forage in soft mud, probing or picking up food by sight. They mainly eat insects and earthworms, and occasional plant material. They are difficult to see, being well camouflaged in their habitat. When flushed from cover, they fly straight for a considerable distance before dropping back into vegetation.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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