African Snipe
Encyclopedia
The African Snipe, Gallinago nigripennis, also known as the Ethiopian Snipe, is a small stocky wader
. It breeds in eastern and southern Africa
in wet mountain moorland and swamps at altitudes of 1700 - 4000m. When not breeding it disperses widely, including into coastal lowlands.
has a stocky body and relatively short legs for a wader. Its upperparts, head and neck are streaked and patterned with bold dark brown stripes and gold edges to the feathers forming lines down its back.. The belly is white, with some brown barring on the flanks but never on the belly. The pinkish-brown bill is very long, straight and fairly robust. The legs and feet are yellowish-olive to greenish-grey. The sexes are similar, and immatures differ only in showing pale fringes on the wing coverts.
The African Snipe makes a hleep call as it takes off, and has a far carrying kip call when breeding. It shows white trailing edges on the wings and white tail corners in flight.
The African Snipe can only be confused with the three migrant
snipes that occur in its range, Common
, Pin-tailed and Great Snipe
. Great Snipe is obviously larger, darker, and relatively shorter billed. Pintail Snipe lacks the white trailing edges on the wings and its tail corners have very little white.
However, Common Snipe is very similar to African; although African is darker above and longer-billed, identification on the ground is very difficult. In flight, African has a slower, more fluttering flight on its more rounded wings, and zig-zags less when flushed. The more extensive white in the tail is often obvious.
The African Snipe builds a saucer-shaped nest of dry grass in the drier areas of its breeding marshes. The nest is concealed in a dense tuft of grass or rushes. Breeding is dependent on the rains in the tropics, but mainly April to October in South Africa
, although nesting has occurred in all months.
This bird has a spectacular aerial display, which involves flying high in circles, followed by a powerful stoop during which the bird makes a drumming
sound, caused by vibrations of modified outer tail feathers.
The African Snipe is quite common in suitable marshy areas of wetlands and dams. It forages by pushing its long bill deep into the mud seeking insects and worms. If alarmed, it freezes, and its cryptic plumage provides effective camouflage when the bird stands motionless amongst marsh vegetation. When flushed, it flies off fast with a zigzagging action.
Wader
Waders, called shorebirds in North America , are members of the order Charadriiformes, excluding the more marine web-footed seabird groups. The latter are the skuas , gulls , terns , skimmers , and auks...
. It breeds in eastern and southern Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
in wet mountain moorland and swamps at altitudes of 1700 - 4000m. When not breeding it disperses widely, including into coastal lowlands.
Description
This 30-32 cm long snipeSnipe
A snipe is any of about 25 wading bird species in three genera in the family Scolopacidae. They are characterized by a very long, slender bill and crypsis plumage. The Gallinago snipes have a nearly worldwide distribution, the Lymnocryptes Jack Snipe is restricted to Asia and Europe and the...
has a stocky body and relatively short legs for a wader. Its upperparts, head and neck are streaked and patterned with bold dark brown stripes and gold edges to the feathers forming lines down its back.. The belly is white, with some brown barring on the flanks but never on the belly. The pinkish-brown bill is very long, straight and fairly robust. The legs and feet are yellowish-olive to greenish-grey. The sexes are similar, and immatures differ only in showing pale fringes on the wing coverts.
The African Snipe makes a hleep call as it takes off, and has a far carrying kip call when breeding. It shows white trailing edges on the wings and white tail corners in flight.
The African Snipe can only be confused with the three migrant
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
snipes that occur in its range, Common
Common Snipe
The Common Snipe is a small, stocky wader native to the Old World. The breeding habitat is marshes, bogs, tundra and wet meadows throughout northern Europe and northern Asia...
, Pin-tailed and Great Snipe
Great Snipe
The Great Snipe, Gallinago media is a small stocky wader in the genus Gallinago.This bird's breeding habitat is marshes and wet meadows with short vegetation in north-eastern Europe including north-western Russia. Great Snipes are migratory, wintering in Africa...
. Great Snipe is obviously larger, darker, and relatively shorter billed. Pintail Snipe lacks the white trailing edges on the wings and its tail corners have very little white.
However, Common Snipe is very similar to African; although African is darker above and longer-billed, identification on the ground is very difficult. In flight, African has a slower, more fluttering flight on its more rounded wings, and zig-zags less when flushed. The more extensive white in the tail is often obvious.
Behaviour
The African Snipe builds a saucer-shaped nest of dry grass in the drier areas of its breeding marshes. The nest is concealed in a dense tuft of grass or rushes. Breeding is dependent on the rains in the tropics, but mainly April to October in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, although nesting has occurred in all months.
This bird has a spectacular aerial display, which involves flying high in circles, followed by a powerful stoop during which the bird makes a drumming
Drumming (snipe)
Drumming is a sound produced by snipe as part of their courtship display flights. The sound is produced mechanically by the vibration of the modified outer tail feathers, held out at a wide angle to the body, in the slipstream of a power dive. The display is usually crepuscular, or given...
sound, caused by vibrations of modified outer tail feathers.
The African Snipe is quite common in suitable marshy areas of wetlands and dams. It forages by pushing its long bill deep into the mud seeking insects and worms. If alarmed, it freezes, and its cryptic plumage provides effective camouflage when the bird stands motionless amongst marsh vegetation. When flushed, it flies off fast with a zigzagging action.