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WetlandScrapeMedium · 170 g
What the Great Snipe sounds like
ID tip
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. 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.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
When to see the Great Snipe
One bar for each month. Filled bars are the 4 months with records; pale bars are months with none. The wide bar is May, the month with the most records.
Where to see the Great Snipe
The map shades 49 countries with regular records, and 15 more in a lighter tone where the bird turns up only as a stray. Everything unshaded has no records. Countries are listed below the map.
Recorded as a rare visitor in United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, South Africa, Algeria, Ghana, Croatia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gambia, Tunisia, India, Saudi Arabia.
About the Great Snipe
The great snipe is a small stocky wader in the genus Gallinago. This bird's breeding habitat is marshes and wet meadows with short vegetation in north-eastern Europe, including north-western Russia. Great snipes are migratory, wintering in Africa. The European breeding population is in steep decline.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Easily confused with
African SnipeGallinago nigripennisThis 30–32 cm (12–13 in) long snipe has a stocky body and relatively short legs for a wader.
Pin-tailed SnipeGallinago stenuraThis 25–27 cm long bird is similar to the longer-billed and longer-tailed common snipe.
Pantanal SnipeGallinago paraguaiaeThe adult Pantanal snipe is 26 to 30 cm (10 to 12 in) long.
Side by side: Common Snipe vs Great Snipe · Great Snipe vs Wilson's Snipe · Great Snipe vs Latham's Snipe · African Snipe vs Great Snipe · Great Snipe vs Pin-tailed Snipe · Great Snipe vs Pantanal Snipe
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