Birds of the World

    CHARADRIIFORMES: Scolopacidae (Sandpipers, Snipes)  
Genus: Gallinago (18 species)


Puna Snipe
Puna Snipe (Gallinago andina andina)
Range: SA: montane wet grassland of w South America: Peru to n Chile and nw Argentina
Peru  
   
Photograph by Gareth Knass   © All Rights Reserved.

Closest to Pantanal Snipe, but note puna habitat, white belly and yellow legs.

Wilson's Snipe
Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata)
Range: NA: Alaska to e Canada and northern tier of continental USA
Canada  
   
Photograph by Nigel from Vancouver     Copyright and usage info

Found at all altitudes, and smaller than Noble Snipe.

Common Snipe
Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago gallinago)
Range: PAL: widespread low Arctic to temperate wetlands of Palearctic: Iceland to British Is., Scandinavia, France and Azores (n Macaronesia, nw of n Africa) e through n Russia to c Chukotskiy Pen., Kamchatka, Sea of Okhotsk and Commander Is. (se Russia); in s to n K
Ariège, France  
 
Photograph by Pierre Dalous     Copyright and usage info


Latham's Snipe
Latham's Snipe (Gallinago hardwickii) Near Threatened
Range: PAL: meadows and fields of temperate ne Palearctic: e Amurland and s Sakhalin (se Russia) and s Kuril Is. s through Honshu and ?Kyushu (n to s Japan)
Sydney Olympic Park, Australia  
 
Photograph by JJ Harrison     Copyright and usage info


Imperial Snipe
Imperial Snipe (Gallinago imperialis) Near Threatened
Range: SA: elfin forest montane bogs of nw South America: Ecuador to Peru (old records Colombia)
  Image credit: Exotic Ornithology, London, 1869, illustration by Bernard Quaritch.
   
Photograph by Prints     Copyright and usage info

The Imperial Snipe is a medium-sized snipe that is more similar to the American Woodcock than other South American snipes (HBW). Note sharp change of color from chest to belly. Found in bogs at treeline (at high altitude where forest ends).

Jameson's Snipe
Jameson's Snipe (Gallinago jamesoni)
Range: SA: montane bogs of n to wc South America: wc Venezuela to nc Bolivia
Papallacta, Ecuador
  Note thick base to bill and more barred belly than Noble Snipe.
   
Photograph by Angus Pritchard   © All Rights Reserved.


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Madagascar Snipe (Gallinago macrodactyla) Vulnerable
Range: AF: wetlands of e Madagascar
 



Magellanic Snipe
Magellanic Snipe (Gallinago magellanica) magellanicae
Range: SA: wet grassland of temperate s South America: c Chile and c Argentina to Tierra del Fuego and Falkland Is.
Carcass Island, Falkland Islands  
   
Photograph by Rob Dunbar   © Robert B. Dunbar. All Rights Reserved.


Great Snipe
Great Snipe (Gallinago media) Near Threatened
Range: PAL: subarctic to temperate meadows of nw Palearctic: w, n Scandinavia and e Poland through w Russia to Yenisei River (w Siberia)
England  
 
Photograph by Stephen G. Davis   © All Rights Reserved.


Swinhoe's Snipe
Swinhoe's Snipe (Gallinago megala)
Range: PAL: temperate woodland-edge wetlands of c, e Palearctic: ne Kazakhstan, sc Siberia, nc Mongolia and Amurland (se Russia)
Gun Galuut, Mongolia  
 
Photograph by Bradley Hacker   © All Rights Reserved.


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Wood Snipe (Gallinago nemoricola) Vulnerable
Range: OR: alpine meadows and scrub of subtropical Asian mts.: w Himalayas from Himachal Pradesh to e India and sc China
 



African Snipe
African Snipe (Gallinago nigripennis)
Range: AF: subtropical to tropical wetlands of ne, sc, s Africa
South Africa  
 
Photograph by Graham Searll   © All Rights Reserved.

African Snipe
African Snipe (Gallinago nigripennis nigripennis)
Range: AF: subtropical to tropical wetlands of ne, sc, s Africa
South Africa  
 
Photograph by Graham Searll   © All Rights Reserved.


Noble Snipe
Noble Snipe (Gallinago nobilis) Near Threatened
Range: SA: montane wet grassland of nw South America: far w Venezuela to far n Peru
Sumapaz National Park, Colombia  
   
Photograph by Tom Friedel   © All Rights Reserved.

A large snipe generally found in high altitude marshes in the paramo. Note white belly.
Probing for food.

Pantanal Snipe
Pantanal Snipe (Gallinago paraguaiae)
Range: SA: wetlands of tropical to subtropical n, c South America: Trinidad, c, e Colombia through the Guianas s to n Argentina and Uruguay
Parque Iguaçu, Curitiba, Brazil  
   
Photograph by Ben Tavener     Copyright and usage info

A small snipe closely related to Wilson's Snipe in North American and Common Snipe in Eurasia. Widespread and found up to mid altitude levels in the Andes. In 2020 the Magellanic Snipe of the Southern Cone was split from this species.

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Solitary Snipe (Gallinago solitaria)
Range: PAL: montane wetlands of c, e Palearctic: Altai and Tien Shan mts. from sc Russia, ne Kazakhstan, nw Xinjiang and n Mongolia e to Kamchatka and ne China
 



Pin-tailed Snipe
Pin-tailed Snipe (Gallinago stenura)
Range: PAL: low Arctic tundra to temperate montane meadows of nc, ne Palearctic: nw Siberia and ne Kazakhstan and n Mongolia to c Chukotskiy Pen. to Sea of Okhotsk (e Siberia)
Laem Pak Bia, Phetchaburi, Thailand  
 
Photograph by JJ Harrison     Copyright and usage info


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Fuegian Snipe (Gallinago stricklandii) Near Threatened
Range: SA: bogs of temperate s South America: c, s Chile and s Argentina to Cape Horn and Isla de los Estados (e of Tierra del Fuego)
   



Giant Snipe
Giant Snipe (Gallinago undulata gigantea)
Range: SA: wet grassland of n, se South America
REGUA, Cachoeiras de Macacu, RJ, Brazil  
   
Photograph by Francesco Veronesi     Copyright and usage info

Nocturnal.


© Tom Friedel - All Rights Reserved, except for images and data otherwise noted.       Colombia       Panama       Ecuador       Costa Rica       Mexico
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