Common Snipe

Gallinago gallinago

The Common Snipe is a medium-sized (27 cm) wader with a very long bill and relatively short legs.  The upperparts are light brown with black spotting and barring, and there are prominent whitish scapular lines.  The breast and flanks are whitish with black streaks.  The crown bears a creamy yellow stripe bordered by blackish brown.  A light buff supercilium is flanked by a brown line through the eye.  The bill and iris are brown and the feet are olive.  The underwing bears broad white bars, which help distinguish this species from the similar Pintail and Swinhoe’s Snipes.

The Common Snipe prefers areas with a combination of grassy cover and moist soils rich in organic matter such as fresh or brackish marshland, grassy or marshy edges of lakes and rivers, swampy meadows and rice fields.  It feeds by vertical probing of the soil for insects, earthworms, crustaceans, small gastropods and spiders.  When flushed, it flies rapidly and erratically on pointed wings, and usually emits an alarm call, described as a rising “jett....jett”.

The Common Snipe is a common resident of Taiwan.

References:  A Field Guide to the Birds of China (Mackinnon and Phillipps); 100 Common Birds of Taiwan (Wild Bird Society of Taipei); Handbook of Birds of the World Vol. 3