| Snipe | |
|---|---|
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| Common snipe (Gallinago gallinago) | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Charadriiformes |
| Suborder: | Scolopaci |
| Family: | Scolopacidae |
| Groups included | |
| Cladistically included but traditionally excluded taxa | |
Asnipe is any of about 26wading bird species in threegenera in thefamilyScolopacidae. They are characterized by a very long, slender bill, eyes placed high on the head, andcryptic/camouflagingplumage.Gallinago snipe have a nearly worldwide distribution, theLymnocryptes snipe is restricted toAsia andEurope and theCoenocorypha snipe is found only in theoutlying islands of New Zealand. The four species ofpainted snipe are not closely related to the typical snipe, and are placed in their own family, the Rostratulidae.
Snipe search forinvertebrates in the mud with a "sewing-machine" action of their long bills. The sensitivity of the bill is caused by filaments belonging to the fifth pair of nerves, which run almost to the tip and open immediately under the soft cuticle in a series of cells; a similar adaptation is found insandpipers; this adaptation gives this portion of the surface of thepremaxillaries a honeycomb-like appearance: with these filaments the bird can sense its food in the mud without seeing it.[1]
Snipe feed mainly on insectlarva. Other invertebrate prey includesnails,crustaceans, andworms. The snipe's bill allows the very tip to remain closed while the snipe slurps up invertebrates.[2]
Snipe can be found in various types of wet marshy settings includingbogs,swamps,wet meadows, and alongrivers, coast lines, andponds. Snipe avoid settling in areas with dense vegetation, but rather seek marshy areas with patchy cover to hide from predators.[2]
Camouflage may enable snipe to remain undetected by hunters inmarshland. The bird is also highly alert and startled easily, rarely staying long in the open. If the snipe flies, hunters have difficulty wing-shooting due to the bird's erratic flight pattern.
The difficulties involved around hunting snipe gave rise to the military termsniper, which originally meant an expert hunter highly skilled inmarksmanship andcamouflaging, but later evolved to mean asharpshooter or a shooter who makes distant shots from concealment.[3][4]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Newton, Alfred (1911). "Snipe". InChisholm, Hugh (ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
