Pin-tailed Snipe Gallinago stenura Scientific name definitions

25–27 cm; 84–182 g (1 Leader, P.J. and Carey, G.J. (2003). Identification of Pintail Snipe and Swinhoe’s Snipe. British Birds. 96(4): 178–198. Close ); wingspan 44–47 cm. Medium-sized snipe, very similar to G. hardwickii and G. megala but primaries normally only just longer than tertials, and tail projects only slightly beyond primaries; wing-coverts have brown-buff spots at tip; has short tail , with distinctive pin-shaped outer tail feathers, not usually visible in the field; in flight , toes project beyond tail tip notably more than in G. megala and latter has on average thicker legs, but otherwise possibly only definitely separable in hand by counting tail feathers (24–28 in present species, versus 20–22 in G. megala, of which only the outer 5–7 pairs progressively narrow outwards, but are never pin-like). Differs from G. gallinago, G. delicata and wholly allopatric G. paraguaiae by averaging slightly larger-bodied and plumper, with shorter tail (toes projecting more noticeably) and shorter bill , comparatively large eyes (woodcock-like) with relatively narrow and more even-width loral stripe, and, in juveniles, narrower fringes to outer webs of lower scapulars; additional features useful in relation to from G. gallinago include the diffuse pale trailing edge to the secondaries and darker, more fully barred underwing (like G. delicata, though unlike latter is warmer brown above) (2 Carey, G. and Olsson, U. (1995). Field identification of Common, Wilson’s, Pintail and Swinhoe’s Snipes. Birding World. 8(5): 179–190. Close , 1 Leader, P.J. and Carey, G.J. (2003). Identification of Pintail Snipe and Swinhoe’s Snipe. British Birds. 96(4): 178–198. Close ). Female very similar to male, but bill averages slightly longer. No seasonal variation. Juvenile very similar to adult, but with pale buff fringes on wing-coverts and narrower fringes on upperparts.

NC & E Russia from Ural Mts through Siberia and Transbaikalia to Sea of Okhotsk. Winters from Indian Subcontinent and Maldives through Indochina to SE China and Taiwan, and S to Philippines and W Lesser Sundas; also found irregularly in small numbers in Saudi Arabia, E Africa and Aldabra Is, and NW Australia.

During and outside breeding season occurs in slightly drier areas than those favoured by G. gallinago. Breeds in Arctic and boreal wetlands, damp meadows and shrub tundra with patches of dwarf birch (Betula nana); up to 2500 m, along tree-line. Reports of species in grassy swamps and sphagnum bogs possibly erroneous, referring to G. gallinago. After breeding, found in wide variety of wetland habitats , e.g. flooded paddyfields, wet grassland , seepage swamps and marshland. Crosses Tibetan plateau on migration, where claimed once in winter at c. 3750 m (3 Lang, A., Bishop, M.A. and Le Sueur, A. (2007). An annotated list of birds wintering in the Lhasa river watershed and Yamzho Yumco, Tibet Autonomous Region, China. Forktail. 23: 1–11. Close ). Often feeds on muddy shorelines and stream banks.

Migratory. Moves overland in broad front; crosses Pakistan and Iran, C Asia, Mongolia, Tibet, N China, NE Bo Hai (Gulf of Chihli), Hong Kong and Taiwan; birds in W breeding range cross Himalayas to India; common on passage in Borneo (spring and autumn); uncommonly recorded in Korea. Arrives in winter quarters late Aug to Oct, and remains until Mar to early May. Many winter in S & NE Indian Subcontinent. Probably also some movement over Middle East (given regular records in recent decades in E Arabia, especially Oman and United Arab Emirates) and across Indian Ocean (recorded once on Socotra (4 Kirwan, G. M., R. P. Martins, K. M. Morton, and D. A. Showler (1996). The status of birds in Socotra and 'Abd Al-Kuri and the records of the OSME survey in spring 1993. Sandgrouse 17:83–101. Close ) and in Seychelles) (5 Safford, R. J., and A. F. A. Hawkins, Editors (2013). The Birds of Africa. Volume 8. The Malagasy Region. Christopher Helm, London, UK. Close ) towards E Africa (Kenya), where species occurs in small numbers at least in some years; recently reported from Benin and Gabon. Reported several times from Papua New Guinea, but records undocumented (6 Gregory, P. (1995). Speculation: additions to the avifauna of Papua New Guinea. Muruk. 7(3): 123–126. Close ), although species is likely to occur there given that small numbers reach Australia in winter. Vagrant also to Europe (Sicily, Dec 1996) (7 Corso, A. (1998). Pintail Snipe in Sicily – a new European bird. Birding World. 11(11): 435–437. Close ), N Africa (Tunisia, Mar 2000; Egypt, Oct 2008 and 2009) (8 Corso, A., Biasioli, M., Gagliardone, M. and Esteban,J. (2010). Identification of the first Pintail Snipe for Egypt. Birding World. 23(8): 344–350. Close ), Israel (eight accepted records, the first in Nov 1984) (9 Shirihai, H. (1999). Fifty species new to Israel, 1979–1998: their discovery and documentation, with tips on identification. Sandgrouse 21(1):45–105. Close , 10 Granit, B., Lindroos, R. and Perlman, Y. (1999). Pintail Snipe in Israel in November 1998. Dutch Birding. 21(6): 329–333. Close , 11 Harrison, I. (2015). From the rarities committees. Sandgrouse 37(2):203–210. Close ) and North America, where recorded in spring in W Aleutians (May 1991, 1998, 2010) and once on Pribilofs in autumn (Jul/Aug 2012) (12 Gibson, D. D., and B. Kessel (1992). Seventy-four new avian taxa documented in Alaska, 1976–1991. Condor 94(2):454–467. Close , 13 Howell, S. N. G., I. Lewington, and W. Russell (2014). Rare Birds of North America. Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, USA. Close ). Migrates in small flocks of 5–10 birds.

Diet includes molluscs, insects and their larvae, earthworms, occasionally crustaceans, seeds and other plant matter. Feeds by probing in soft ground, or pecking from surface. Crepuscular, nocturnal and, when undisturbed, diurnal.

In breeding season, flight displays by males consist of an undulating flight (covering c. 200 m of airspace) with alternating gliding and f1uttering, and 45º dives over 20–30 m: undulating f1ights are initially silent, followed by simple, repeated calls  , “chivs chivs chivs...”, which start hesitantly, become more regular and culminate in a crescendo as the bird dives, followed by a six-syllable “chiff chiff chiff chiff chiff-chiff” as it pulled out of the dive, which resembles the vocalization made by perched birds after flight displays, except that in the latter case seven syllables are involved; during dives, the outer tail feathers produce drumming (or ‘fizzing’) sounds like other snipe. Neighbouring males often display simultaneously, performing non-undulating and non-diving parallel f1ights (up to 3 m apart), either silently or monotonously vocalizing. Most frequently heard call, e.g. when flushed, is likened to the quack  of a duck and is generally considered to be higher-pitched, more nasal and slightly more urgent than that of G. megala; however, it also occasionally gives a call that lacks nearly all the throatiness and slur of the other.

Not globally threatened (Least Concern). Number in wintering grounds in Indian Subcontinent in order of 25,000–1,000,000 birds, and similar numbers in E & SE Asia. On Russian breeding grounds fairly rare, though actual population size hard to assess. At favourable breeding sites density generally high. Anthropogenic forest changes, especially creation of forest clear-cuts, lead to increase in numbers and range; breeding range expanding slightly westwards. Commonest snipe in zone from India through Indochina to Sumatra. Subject to some hunting pressure.