Common Snipe - Scolopacidae Gallinago gallinago
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Sneaky Common Snipe



Common Snipe



Photo Details
1. May 7, 2005 - Moroni, Sanpete County, Utah - ©Sean Breazeal
2.  May 16, 2004 - Heber Fields, Wasatch County, Utah - ©NJDavis

Description
L 10.5 WS 18, Barred flanks, Striped head, Striped Back, White Belly, Long Gray Bill, yellowish legs

Behavior
Lives in wet meadows, marshes and bogs. Eats by plunging bill into soft ground to find larvae of craneflies and other insects, earthworms, crayfish, mollusks, frogs and seed. Male and female do morning or evening aerial courting display over nest area where they rise over 300 feet in the air then dive down.  Air vibration through the two outer tail feathers makes a whinnying sound.  They lay 4 spotted olive-buff eggs in nest of grasses leaves and moss placed in a depression in a bog. One brood per season with incubation taking 18-20 days. Chicks are precocial.

Utah Range Map
click for range map color-key

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