| Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago (Linnaeus, 1758)) |
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Scientific name: Gallinago gallinago (Linnaeus, 1758) Common name: Common Snipe French name: Bécassine des marais Order: Charadriiformes Family: Scolopacidae Size: Body size: 25 to 27 cm; Bill length: 55 to 75 mm; Weight: 80 to 120 g; Wingspan: 37 to 47 cm. Habitat: Water meadows, grassy places next to marshes or ponds. Food: Mainly worms but also insects, crustaceans and molluscs. Common Snipes feed in shallow muddy water probing and picking preys with their long bills. Nesting: The cup-shaped nest is located on the ground in a small depression among tufts of high grasses. There are 3 to 4 eggs per clutch. Migration: Birds from the northern regions move to southern Europe, to southern Asia or to Africa, in winter. Geographic area: Northern and central regions of Europe and Asia during the breeding period. |
The Common Snipe is a stocky wader. It bears a long blackish flexible bill with some yellowish colour at the base. The upper parts are dark brown with white lines and buff streaks. The chest is buffy-brown with dark streaks. The cap bears two broad dark brown stripes surrounding a paler stripe. There is a broad buff eyebrow and one dark stripe running over the eye. The short legs are greenish yellow. Males have a very spectacular flight during nuptial display with emission of a typical drumming sound. Common Snipes are generally observed in small flocks. |
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I have seen one Common Snipe in this little pond during one of my usual running session. I came back several times (3 or 4 times, not more to minimize disturbance) but the Common Snipe's plumage is a very efficient camouflage and, almost every time I only saw them at take off. This was a flock of about twelve Common Snipes. This picture is an exception as I have succeeded in seeing two Common Snipes before they take off. The one on the left is perfectly hidden among water plants but you can see its eye looking at me. |
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A few days of cold and snow have permitted me to observe Common Snipes much more easily. |
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You can find in the vicinity some other ditches which are not frozen because of running water. This Common Snipe has preferred to stay next to the usual place it was used to sitting before these cold days. |
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The Common Snipes' plumage provides a very efficient camouflage. |
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This is now thawing! |
André Bon October 2016