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Australian Painted Snipe (Rostratula australis) Alternate name(s): "Painted Snipe" Aboriginal name(s): "pulukuR" [tjapwurrung] Size: 24-30 cm; wing span 50-54 cm Body mass: ca. 123 g (male); ca. 132 g (female)

Australia: Family Group 8 Family Group 8 Table Red-backed Button-quail Chestnut-backed Button-quail Little Button-quail Red-chested Button-quail Painted Button-quail Black-breasted Button-quail Ruddy Turnstone Latham's Snipe Swinhoe's Snipe Painted Snipe Asian Dowitcher Bar-tailed Godwit Black-tailed Godwit Hudsonian Godwit Whimbrel Little Curlew Eastern Curlew Eurasian Curlew Pectoral Sandpiper Sharp-tailed Sandpiper Curlew Sandpiper Ruff Red Knot Great Knot Wandering Tattler Grey-tailed Tattler Wood Sandpiper Terek Sandpiper Common Sandpiper Green Sandpiper Buff-breasted Sandpiper Common Greenshank Marsh Sandpiper Red-necked Stint Long-toed Stint Temminck's Stint Sanderling Broad-billed Sandpiper Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Birds home page

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Australian Painted Snipes are medium-sized waders. Their cryptic plumage is dimorphic, i.e. males and females are different. Male Australian Painted Snipes have a grey-brown head with prominent buff eyebrows and central stripe along the crown. The neck and upper chest are also grey-brown. The front, from the lower chest to the undertail coverts, the collar, shoulders and flanks are white. The back, from the nape of the neck to the rump, is somewhat darker grey-brown than the head. The wings, which have a buff inner edge, are dark grey-brown and partly scalloped, partly spotted lighter greyish-brown. Female Australian Painted Snipes have a reddish-brown head and neck instead of the males' grey-brown. Their eyebrows are white. Otherwise they resemble males, but without spots on the flight feathers. The eyes of both sexes have dark irises. The straight bill is pinkish-brown, with a greyish-yellow base. The legs and feet are also greyish-yellow. Juvenile males are smaller and have duller colours than adults.

Taxonomy, classification See Australian Painted Snipe at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Australian Painted Snipe is available HERE . Australian Painted Snipes are endemic to the continent. They breed only in some small areas in south-eastern Australia, such as the south-eastern corner of SA, parts of the Murray River valley in southern NSW and along the NSW coast from about Sydney to the Manning River estuary. Outside the breeding season they venture further into central NSW, south-eastern QLD and the coastal region around Cairns, QLD. They are only very rarely found elsewhere in the north-eastern half of Australia, to the north-east of a line connecting very roughly Eighty Mile beach in WA with Cameron Corner (the NSW/QLD/SA border point) and south from there to the area around Adelaide, SA. Australian Painted Snipes have a preference for marshes with moderate cover. They can be found in a variety of ephemeral wetlands, such as e.g. wet paddocks and also roadside ditches.

Sightings Click here for sighting information M. Windeyer reports spotting a male Australian Painted Snipes at a waterhole ca. 30 km NW of the village of Collie, NSW (near Gilgandra, NSW), in October 2002. Since the male displayed threatening postures, it is likely that there was a pair nesting at the time. C. Hayne reports that Australian Painted Snipes can occasionally be seen in the Moree (NSW) region, most often in small ephemeral wetlands in shallow depressions and in wet paddocks. Until 2013, they could be found regularly within the Gwydir Watercourse Wetlands. 2 birds were first spotted near Ashley, NSW, in January 2012. Next they were found in February 2013, when 3 birds were observed near Terry Hie Hie, NSW. Next, 2 birds were found 50 km West of Moree in March 2013. Since 2014 Australian Painted Snipes are very scarce in Australia. M. Eaton reports finding Australian Painted Snipes at Kobble Creek, Lake Samsonvale, QLD, in November 2019. Another was found at Sandy Camp Wetlands, Lytton, QLD, in December 2023. Next, 3 Australian Painted Snipes were spotted at Vernor Road, Wivenhoe Pocket, QLD, in February 2025. In October 2020 V. Collins found an Australian Painted Snipe at Narrabri Lake, NSW.

Photos

ADULT

PAIR

Lateral view of a pair of Australian Painted Snipes, male on the right (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Vernor Road, Wivenhoe Pocket, QLD, February 2025]

Lateral view of 3 Australian Painted Snipes, female on the left (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Vernor Road, Wivenhoe Pocket, QLD, February 2025]

(Near-)dorsal view of a pair of Australian Painted Snipes (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Vernor Road, Wivenhoe Pocket, QLD, February 2025]

MALE

Frontal view of a male Australian Painted Snipe (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Sandy Camp Wetlands, Lytton, QLD, December 2023]

Near-frontal view of a male Australian Painted Snipe (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Sandy Camp Wetlands, Lytton, QLD, December 2023]

Near-lateral view of a male Australian Painted Snipe (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Sandy Camp Wetlands, Lytton, QLD, December 2023]

Lateral view of a male Australian Painted Snipe; note the prominent spots on the wings (photo courtesy of V. Collins)
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, October 2020]

Lateral view of a male Australian Painted Snipe; note the prominent spots on the wings (photo courtesy of V. Collins)
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, October 2020]

Close-up lateral view of a male Australian Painted Snipe (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kobble Creek, Lake Samsonvale, QLD, November 2019]

Close-up lateral view of a male Australian Painted Snipe (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kobble Creek, Lake Samsonvale, QLD, November 2019]

Close-up lateral view of a male Australian Painted Snipe, slightly different stance (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kobble Creek, Lake Samsonvale, QLD, November 2019]

Close-up lateral view of a male Australian Painted Snipe (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kobble Creek, Lake Samsonvale, QLD, November 2019]

Lateral view of a male Australian Painted Snipe (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Vernor Road, Wivenhoe Pocket, QLD, February 2025]

Close-up near-dorsal view of a male Australian Painted Snipe (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kobble Creek, Lake Samsonvale, QLD, November 2019]

Near-dorsal view of two male Australian Painted Snipes (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kobble Creek, Lake Samsonvale, QLD, November 2019]

Near-dorsal view of a male Australian Painted Snipe (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Sandy Camp Wetlands, Lytton, QLD, December 2023]

Near-dorsal view of a male Australian Painted Snipe (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Sandy Camp Wetlands, Lytton, QLD, December 2023]

Dorsal view of a male Australian Painted Snipe (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kobble Creek, Lake Samsonvale, QLD, November 2019]

Dorsal view of a male Australian Painted Snipe; here one can see that this species has all-round vision
(photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kobble Creek, Lake Samsonvale, QLD, November 2019]

Direct comparison between a male Australian Painted Snipe and a Magpie-lark (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Vernor Road, Wivenhoe Pocket, QLD, February 2025]

FEMALE

Lateral view of an adult female Australian Painted Snipe looking towards the observer (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Vernor Road, Wivenhoe Pocket, QLD, February 2025]

Lateral view of a female Australian Painted Snipe (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Vernor Road, Wivenhoe Pocket, QLD, February 2025]

Lateral view of a female Australian Painted Snipe (photo courtesy of C. Hayne)
[Near Terry Hie Hie, NSW, February 2013]

Near-dorsal view of a female Australian Painted Snipe (photo courtesy of C. Hayne)
[Near Terry Hie Hie, NSW, February 2013]

Near-dorsal view of a female Australian Painted Snipe; the paucity of chestnut on the bird's nape of the neck suggests that it may still be immature (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kobble Creek, Lake Samsonvale, QLD, November 2019]

Dorsal view of a female Australian Painted Snipe (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Vernor Road, Wivenhoe Pocket, QLD, February 2025]

Sex unknown

Lateral view of two Australian Painted Snipes in flight (photo courtesy of C. Hayne)
[50 km West of Moree, NSW, March 2013]

IMMATURE/JUVENILE

Lateral view of an Australian Painted Snipe; the emerging fine barring and the sparsity of spots on the wings, the dark lores and leading wing edge suggest that this may be a juvenile moulting into female plumage (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kobble Creek, Lake Samsonvale, QLD, November 2019]

Lateral view of an immature female Australian Painted Snipe, left, with a male on the right (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kobble Creek, Lake Samsonvale, QLD, November 2019]

Lateral view of an immature female Australian Painted Snipe, back, with a male in front (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kobble Creek, Lake Samsonvale, QLD, November 2019]

Near-dorsal view of an immature female Australian Painted Snipe (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Kobble Creek, Lake Samsonvale, QLD, November 2019]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: ?

Mobility: Nomadic/dispersive

Elementary unit: Pair/small mob

C. Hayne notes that Australian Painted Snipes have always been spotted in the presence of Red-kneed Dotterels. This may be due to similar habitat requirements.

Australian Painted Snipes in an ephemeral wetland (in this case a wet fallow field) (photo courtesy of C. Hayne)
[Near Terry Hie Hie, NSW, February 2013]

Australian Painted Snipes in an ephemeral wetland (in this case a wet fallow field) (photo courtesy of C. Hayne)
[Near Terry Hie Hie, NSW, February 2013]

Australian Painted Snipes on the edge of a wetland (photo courtesy of C. Hayne)

Lateral view of a male Australian Painted Snipe taking a bath (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Vernor Road, Wivenhoe Pocket, QLD, February 2025]

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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