Madagascar Snipe
Encyclopedia
The Madagascar Snipe, Gallinago macrodactyla, is a small stocky wader
. It breeds only in the humid eastern half of Madagascar
, from sea-level up to 2,700 m, being more common above 700 m. It is non-migratory
.
29-32 cm long with 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 blackish bill is very long, straight and fairly robust. The legs and feet are yellowish-olive to greenish-grey. The sexes are similar, and immature differ only in showing buff fringes on the wing coverts.
The Madagascar Snipe makes a hoarse hlip call as it takes off. In flight, it has a narrow grey trailing edge on the wing and a very dark underwing.
The Madagascar Snipe has never been recorded elsewhere, and no other snipe species have yet been recorded on Madagascar. Common Snipe
is smaller, has a paler underwing, and a white trailing edges on the wing. Pin-tailed Snipe is similar in plumage to the Madagascan species, but is smaller, shorter-billed and shorter-tailed. African Snipe
is similar in build to the Madagascar Snipe, but has an obvious white trailing edge on the wing. All the snipes that are potential vagrants to Madagascar have a faster, lighter flight than the resident species.
The Madagascar Snipe breeds in marshes, swamps, muddy areas, flooded fields and sometimes rice
fields. It builds a saucer-shaped nest of dry grass in the drier areas of its breeding wetland. The nest is concealed in a dense tuft of grass or sedges. Breeding occurs from at least July to January.
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 Madagascar Snipe forages by pushing its long bill deep into the mud seeking invertebrates, such as insect
s and worms, seeds and plants. If alarmed, it freezes, and its cryptic plumage provides effective camouflage when the bird stands motionless amongst marsh vegetation. When flushed, it flies off with a zigzagging action.
The species is threatened by the increasing conversion of wetland-edge habitat to rice cultivation. For example, at the largest block of suitable wetland habitat in Madagascar, Lake Alaotra, 250 km² (97 sq mi) of the 350 km² (135 sq mi) surrounding the lake are now under rice production. The species is also threatened by hunting for food, for subsistence use or local trade.
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 only in the humid eastern half of Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
, from sea-level up to 2,700 m, being more common above 700 m. It is non-migratory
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...
.
Description
This is a large and heavy 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...
29-32 cm long with 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 blackish bill is very long, straight and fairly robust. The legs and feet are yellowish-olive to greenish-grey. The sexes are similar, and immature differ only in showing buff fringes on the wing coverts.
The Madagascar Snipe makes a hoarse hlip call as it takes off. In flight, it has a narrow grey trailing edge on the wing and a very dark underwing.
The Madagascar Snipe has never been recorded elsewhere, and no other snipe species have yet been recorded on Madagascar. Common Snipe
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...
is smaller, has a paler underwing, and a white trailing edges on the wing. Pin-tailed Snipe is similar in plumage to the Madagascan species, but is smaller, shorter-billed and shorter-tailed. African Snipe
African Snipe
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.-Description:This...
is similar in build to the Madagascar Snipe, but has an obvious white trailing edge on the wing. All the snipes that are potential vagrants to Madagascar have a faster, lighter flight than the resident species.
Behaviour
The Madagascar Snipe breeds in marshes, swamps, muddy areas, flooded fields and sometimes rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
fields. It builds a saucer-shaped nest of dry grass in the drier areas of its breeding wetland. The nest is concealed in a dense tuft of grass or sedges. Breeding occurs from at least July to January.
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 Madagascar Snipe forages by pushing its long bill deep into the mud seeking invertebrates, such as insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s and worms, seeds and plants. If alarmed, it freezes, and its cryptic plumage provides effective camouflage when the bird stands motionless amongst marsh vegetation. When flushed, it flies off with a zigzagging action.
Conservation status
This bird is uncommon, with the total population estimated at 1,800-7,500 individuals. It is found in small groups of 4-8.The species is threatened by the increasing conversion of wetland-edge habitat to rice cultivation. For example, at the largest block of suitable wetland habitat in Madagascar, Lake Alaotra, 250 km² (97 sq mi) of the 350 km² (135 sq mi) surrounding the lake are now under rice production. The species is also threatened by hunting for food, for subsistence use or local trade.