The Wild Snipe Hunt

If you were a Boy Scout, you probably were sent early in your career on a “snipe hunt” during a campout.  After enduring the laughter of the older boys when you returned in the dark tired, wet, and hungry – and snipeless – you were convinced there was really no such thing as a “snipe.”  (Perhaps Girl Scouts tortured like this also, I cannot attest.)  And it wasn’t until you became a birder years later that you learned the truth:  snipes exist, but they can be really hard to find.

Until recently, Wilson’s Snipe (Gallinago delcata) were considered a subspecies of the Common Snipe, which ranges over northern Europe and northern Asia.  Common Snipe are occasionally found on the western islands of Alaska.

Wilson’s Snipe are cryptically and physically similar to American Woodcock but they are readily distinguishable by a headstriping pattern opposite that of Woodcock: longitudinal rather than latitudinal.  More helpfully for ID purposes, the Snipe prefers muddy edges of streams and ponds rather than forest openings as used by Woodcock.  Because they do not nest in Connecticut, Wilson’s Snipe cannot be located by watching and listening for lekking displays, as we do with Woodcock. 

During migration, it’s possible that Wilson’s Snipe and American Woodcock could occur in the same habitat.  On flushing, Woodcock tend to zig zag straight up through branches, while Snipe zig zag horizontally with raspy “skaip” alarm calls.  Look also for the whitish belly of the Snipe, compared to the rufous underside of the Woodcock.

In Connecticut, Wilson’s Snipe are generally found along Connecticut’s river valleys, inland lake shores, and Long Island Sound coast.  Occasionally they are found in winter but they are most frequent during March/April/May and September/October migrations.  A good tip from Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Birds of North America (“BNA”) is that “In spring, [Wilson’s Snipe] migrates primarily on southerly winds after warm fronts, in fall mostly after cold fronts. Migrates on moonlit nights.”

Although it nests “very locally” (BNA) as nearby as western Massachusetts, there are no recent breeding records in Connecticut; northern New England is essentially the southern edge of their breeding range.  

Habitat and Status

As described by Birds of North America, the preferred habitat consists of “Marshes (including cattails), swamps, wet meadows, wet pastures, wet fallow fields, and marshy edges of streams and ditches.”  In Connecticut Wilson’s Snipe are found most often in wet farm fields and sedge meadows, usually bordering a stream or wet swale.  They prefer close cropped vegetation, so wet farm fields that are mowed at least annually or are grazed by livestock provide suitable habitat. 

Wilson's Snipe - Migratory Stopover Habitat (Westport, Connecticut)

Like many wetlands dependent species, loss of wetlands habitat has historically affected populations, as has excessive hunting.  The continuing loss of maintained farmlands along migration routes, including in Connecticut, could likely affect this species, and consequently opportunities for observation in our State.  While it is still hunted, there does not appear to be a consensus on the effect of hunting on populations; however, the species is not currently considered threatened or endangered.

Interesting Facts

Wilson’s Snipe are pretty remarkable birds.  As they probe in the mud they can sense prey with the tip of their bill (or “snout,” which became “snite,” which became “snipe”).  With eyes set so far back, they can see behind them while the bill is buried in the mud.  That’s why our view of them is usually of a fleeting zigzag of a stripy brown bird: they see us coming long before we see them.  But even that view is a rewarding one to birders.

All Photos © C.S. Wood 2017

Citation:  Mueller, Helmut. (1999). Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata), The Birds of North America (P. G. Rodewald, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America: https://birdsna.org/Species-Account/bna/species/wilsni1