Sandpipers · Shorebirds
Pin-tailed Snipe
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Gallinago stenura
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Voice
Call
How to recognize it
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25–27 cm long
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Long straight dark bill
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Mottled brown back with cream stripes
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Pale underside, buff-streaked breast and white belly
About the species
Brown mottling covers the back of the Pin-tailed Snipe, with cream lines running along it; below, the body is pale, the breast streaked buff, and the belly white. A dark stripe crosses the eye, framed by lighter ones, and its long, straight bill points down as it probes. Compared with the Common Snipe, it lacks the white edge along the trailing side of the wing.
On breeding grounds, males display in groups, repeating a loud "tcheka" phrase that rises into a fizzing, buzzing finish. Whistling notes come from the narrow outer tail feathers in flight, while its everyday call is a weak "squik." When flushed, it flies on a flatter path.
It breeds in damp marshes and tundra across northern Russia, then heads south for winter, from Pakistan to Indonesia. In winter it uses wetlands, sometimes drier ground, and searches mud or soft soil by probing and picking food from the surface. Insects and earthworms make up most of its diet, with some plant material.
Where to find
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During breeding in damp marshes and tundra of northern Russia, look for Pin-tailed Snipe probing mud and soft soil with its bill for food.
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In those northern marshes and tundra, listen for displaying males: the repeated "tcheka" call comes from the top of a dry tree, while the tail feathers whistle in flight.
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On South Asian wintering grounds, watch muddy patches in wetlands for feeding: food may be picked from the surface by sight, as well as found by probing the ground.
