Biology:South American snipe

Short description: Species of bird

South American snipe
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Charadriiformes
Family:	Scolopacidae
Genus:	Gallinago
Species:	G. paraguaiae
Binomial name
Gallinago paraguaiae Vieillot, 1816

The South American snipe (Gallinago paraguaiae) is a small, stocky wader. Its taxonomic position is complicated, sometimes treated as a race of common snipe. The Andean population is now usually considered a distinct species, known as the puna snipe.

This small snipe breeds in most of South America away from the Pacific coast and eastern Brazil , and also Trinidad and possibly Tobago The nominate lowland race G. p. paraguaiae is resident, but the southern Magellanic snipe, to which it was previously considered conspecific, migrates north in winter, abandoning Tierra del Fuego altogether.

The breeding habitat is boggy rivers'. The nest is a well-hidden depression on the ground. Both parents incubate the two buff eggs for about 19 days to hatching, the precocial young leaving the nest soon after hatching.

The adult South American snipe is 27–29 cm in length and weighs 110 g. It has short greenish-grey legs and a very long straight dark bill. The body is mottled brown on top and pale underneath. There is a dark stripe through the eye, with light stripes above and below it. The wings are pointed. In northern South America, it is difficult to distinguish in the field from wintering common snipe, although they can be separated in the hand. South American snipes forage in soft mud, probing or picking up food by sight. They mainly eat insects and earthworms, also plant material.

The male performs a "winnowing" display during courtship, flying high in circles and then taking shallow dives to produce a distinctive sound. The call is a rasping tssk.

Further reading

• Birds of Venezuela by Hilty, ISBN:0-7136-6418-5
• ffrench, Richard (1991). A Guide to the Birds of Trinidad and Tobago (2nd ed.). Comstock Publishing. ISBN 0-8014-9792-2. 
• Shorebirds by Hayman, Marchant and Prater ISBN:978-0-395-60237-9

Wikidata ☰ Q1266081 entry