Pin-tailed snipe facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Pin-tailed snipe |
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Scolopax stenura Bonaparte, 1831 |
The pin-tailed snipe (Gallinago stenura) is a cool bird that belongs to the sandpiper family. It's known for its special tail feathers!
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Where Pin-tailed Snipes Live
These birds spend their summers, or "breed," in northern Russia. When winter comes, they fly south to warmer places. This journey is called migration. They travel all the way to southern Asia, from Pakistan to Indonesia. You can often find them in southern India, Sri Lanka, and many parts of Southeast Asia. Sometimes, they even visit places like Australia or Kenya in East Africa!
Pin-tailed Snipe Habitat
Pin-tailed snipes love wet places. When they are breeding in Arctic and northern Russia, they live in damp marshes and open, treeless lands called tundra. When they are not breeding, they use many different kinds of wetlands. They often share these wet areas with their relatives, the common snipe. However, pin-tailed snipes can also be found in drier spots than their cousins. They build their nests on the ground, making sure to hide them very well.
What Pin-tailed Snipes Eat
These birds find their food by searching in mud or soft soil. They use their long bills to probe deep into the ground. They also pick up food they can see. Their main diet includes insects and earthworms. They also eat some plant material.
What Pin-tailed Snipes Look Like
The pin-tailed snipe is about 25 to 27 centimeters (10-11 inches) long. It looks a lot like the common snipe, but the common snipe has a longer bill and tail. Adult pin-tailed snipes have short, greenish-grey legs and a long, straight, dark bill. Their bodies are mottled brown on top, which means they have patches of different brown shades. They also have creamy lines running down their back. Their underside is pale, with a streaked, buff-colored chest and a white belly. They have a dark stripe across their eye, with lighter stripes above and below it. Male and female snipes look very similar. Young snipes are also very much alike, with only small differences in their feathers.
Pin-tailed Snipe Wings and Flight
The wings of a pin-tailed snipe are not as pointed as those of a common snipe. They also don't have the white edge on their wings that common snipes do. When a pin-tailed snipe flies away, its tail is shorter and its flight path is flatter. This makes it easier to tell them apart from common snipes in the air.
Pin-tailed Snipe Sounds
Male pin-tailed snipes often display together in groups. They make a loud, repeated "tcheka" song. This song gets louder and includes fizzing and buzzing sounds. They also make whistling noises while flying. These whistling sounds come from their special, pin-like outer tail feathers. These unique feathers are actually how the bird got its English name! Their normal call is a soft "squik."
