BeakBrain
Menu
Bird GuideDaily BirdCamsTripsCommunityGet the app

Wilson's Snipe

Gallinago delicata

Least Concern · IUCN Red List

LCLeast ConcernFishWetlandScrapeMedium · 113 g
Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata), photo 1
Photo: Hobbyfotowiki · CC0
Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata), photo 2
Photo: lwolfartist · CC BY 2.0
Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata), photo 3
Photo: Amber M. King · CC BY 4.0
Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata), photo 4
Photo: JD Flores · CC0
Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata), photo 5
Photo: JD Flores · CC0
Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata), photo 6
Photo: tcantrell52 · CC BY 4.0
Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata), photo 7
Photo: Trey Philips · CC BY 4.0
Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata), photo 8
Photo: Trey Philips · CC BY 4.0
Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata), photo 9
Photo: Tom Kennedy · CC BY 4.0

What the Wilson's Snipe sounds like

Sonogram of the Wilson's Snipe: time runs left to right, pitch bottom to top, and the brighter the mark the louder the sound.
Recorded by Doug Hynes · Song · "the Fen", near Churchill Northern Studies Centre, Manitoba, Canada · CC BY-SA 4.0 · via xeno-canto

ID tip

Adults are 23–28 cm (9.1–11.0 in) in length with a 39–45 cm (15–18 in) wingspan. Weight ranges from 2.8–5.2 oz (79–147 g). They have short greenish-grey legs and a very long straight dark bill. The body is mottled brown on top and pale underneath. They have a dark stripe through the eye, with light stripes above and below it. The wings are pointed. Carey, Geoff and Urban Olsson (1995). Field identification of Common, Wilson's, Pintail and Swinhoe's Snipes. Birding World 8(5): 179–190. Leader, Paul (1999). Identification forum: Common Snipe and Wilson's Snipe Birding World 12(9): 371–4.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

When to see the Wilson's Snipe

One bar for each month, and every month is filled: this bird is recorded here in all twelve. The wide bar is April, the month with the most records.

Where to see the Wilson's Snipe

Regular rangeRare visitor

The map shades 44 countries with regular records, and 7 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.

United States Canada Mexico Bermuda Belize Sweden Costa Rica Puerto Rico Portugal Barbados Curaçao Colombia Cuba St. Pierre & Miquelon Bahamas Guadeloupe Aruba Cayman Islands Panama Guatemala Caribbean Netherlands U.S. Virgin Islands Venezuela Trinidad & Tobago Grenada Honduras Dominican Republic Jamaica Nicaragua St. Martin Antigua & Barbuda Montserrat Ecuador Turks & Caicos Islands St. Lucia El Salvador St. Vincent & Grenadines St. Kitts & Nevis Martinique Haiti Anguilla British Virgin Islands Dominica St. Barthélemy

Recorded as a rare visitor in United Kingdom, Finland, Norway, Iceland, France, Greenland, Spain.

About the Wilson's Snipe

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".

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Easily confused with

Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) Common SnipeGallinago gallinagoAdults are 25–27 cm (9.8–10.6 in) in length with a 44–47 cm (17–19 in) wingspan and a weight of 80–140 g (2.8–4.9 oz) (up to 180 g (6.3 oz) pre-migration). Latham's Snipe (Gallinago hardwickii) Latham's SnipeGallinago hardwickiiThe snipe is 29–33 cm long, with a wingspan of 50–54 cm and weight of 150–230 g. Great Snipe (Gallinago media) Great SnipeGallinago mediaAt 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.

Side by side: Common Snipe vs Wilson's Snipe · Latham's Snipe vs Wilson's Snipe · Great Snipe vs Wilson's Snipe

Learn the Wilson's Snipe in the BeakBrain App

Photo and call practice. Coming soon to iPhone and Android.

Play today's Daily Bird

Every photo and recording on this page is credited to its author under the licence shown. Spotted a problem with this page, or have a better photo? Contribute.