Sandpipers · Shorebirds
Great Snipe
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Gallinago media
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Voice
Song
How to recognize it
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27–29 cm, a stocky wader slightly larger than a snipe
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Brown above with mottling, paler below
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Dark stripe from bill to eye
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Two white wingbars, broad wings visible in flight
About the species
The great snipe is a compact, stocky wader with a short bill and a subdued brown look. In wet grass it blends in easily, and in flight the pale wingbars are the easiest thing to notice.
It stays quiet and wary. In spring it has an elaborate courtship display, and when flushed it usually flies off for a long way without settling nearby.
It breeds in marshes, wet meadows, and low-lying river areas. It feeds in soft mud on insects, worms, and sometimes plant material, and leaves for Africa south of the Sahara in winter.
Where to find
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On wet meadows by pond and canal edges — Great Snipe is most likely to show as a low, quick run before probing soft mud.
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In floodplain hollows and soggy lawns after rain — look for short feeding bursts in sparse grass.
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On marshy vacant lots and damp depressions near embankments — the dusk display is easier to hear than the well-hidden body.
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Along reedy fringes on quiet water margins — it freezes still and blends into the brown vegetation.
