Wilson’s Snipe, the Real Deal

Nope, Snipes aren’t made up! These plump, long-billed, funny-looking birds are similar to the American Woodcock (the bird that does that fun dance across the road).  Though members of the Sandpiper family, Snipes are not found on sandy beaches. You’ll find them perched along swamp edges and bogs or flying zigzags if flushed. They’re relatively solitary and quiet but yammer away during breeding season. Their flight makes a unique winnowing bellow across the water that sounds like an eerie echo. About the size of a Robin, they’re striped across the head and back in shades of brown with characteristically long beaks. 

Their stocky look is due to the extra-large pectoral (breast) muscles that make up nearly a quarter of the bird’s weight—the highest percent of all shorebirds. Thanks to their massive flight muscles they can reach speeds estimated at 60 miles an hour.

Their breeding range is in the upper U.S. well into Canada and Alaska, and their winter range is in the lower U.S. into Mexico. In breeding season, especially at night, males performs a”winnowing” display: he flies in high circles, periodically making shallow dives. During the dive, the vibration of the outer tail feathers produces the whinnying sound. In aggressive and distracting displays on the ground, the bird crouches, raising and spreading its tail to show off a pattern. Nests are built on the ground, usually well hidden in clumps of grass or buried in tundra vegetation. Nests (built by females) are shallow depressions lined with fine grasses, leaves, and moss, sometimes with overhanging plants woven into a kind of canopy. She lays 2 to 4 eggs, and both care for young. 

This elusive bird sleeps much of the day, then feeds around dusk and dawn. Diet consists of mostly insects and earthworms, but they may eat some leeches, crustaceans, mollusks, spiders, frogs, leaves, seeds. They use their long beaks to probe in the mud or shallow water. Their bill’s flexible tip can open to grasp food while the base of the bill stays closed. Snipe can slurp small prey from the mud without removing their bill from the soil.

Snipes are currently low-priority on conservation lists. As with all birds in this series, they depend on wetlands, and as such, the draining or conversion of wetland habitat is detrimental to this species. Other threats include collisions with lighthouses, radio, TV, and cell towers, buildings, and cars.

Original mixed media on raw stretched canvas with maple float frame. Alternative hardwood frames available upon request.

Sources: All About Birds and Audubon Society