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Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) German name(s): "Bekassine" Size: 25-27 cm; wing span: 44-47 cm Body mass: 80-140 g (up to 180 g pre-migration) Wing loading [g/cm2]: 0.39-0.46

Europe: Family Group 8 Family Group 8 Table Ruddy Turnstone Common Snipe Eurasian Woodcock Bar-tailed Godwit Black-tailed Godwit Eurasian Curlew Whimbrel Little Curlew Sanderling Temminck's Stint Little Stint Dunlin Purple Sandpiper Marsh Sandpiper Common Greenshank Common Redshank Spotted Redshank Lesser Yellowlegs Wood Sandpiper Curlew Sandpiper Common Sandpiper Green Sandpiper Buff-breasted Sandpiper Ruff Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names European birds home page

Similar species

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

Physical description Click here for a physical description Common Snipes are small waders. Their plumage is highly cryptic, with colours ranging from creamy hues to dark-brown. Most of the plumage is brown, except for a dark-brown crown (with a ligher central stripe), eye-stripes and cheek stripes on the head, heavy dark-brown scalloping on the front (throat to chest) and flanks. The dark-brown wing feathers have brown edge lining and white tips. The belly, vent and undertail coverts are whitish and unbarred. The eyes have dark irises. Common Snipes have a dark-tipped, long and straight brownish bill that is about twice as long as the size of the head. The legs and feet are yellowish-grey. Twitcher's tip In the field, Common Snipes are very difficult to distinguish from other species of snipes.

Taxonomy, classification See Common 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 Common Snipe is available HERE . There are two distinct races of Common Snipes, which are a migratory species of waders. Nominate race "gallinago" breeds in Eurasia, in a range spanning from western Europe to northern Asia. The European population winters around the Mediterranean Sea and in other parts of North Africa and in Asia Minor. The Asian population migrates to tropical southern Asia. Race "faeroeensis" breeds on islands of the northern Atlantic Ocean, i.e. Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Shetland and Orkney. They spend the winters in Britain and Ireland. In Europe Common Snipes are permanent residents in an area spanning from about northern France and southern Germany to the British Isles and Ireland, the northern Atlantic islands and Denmark. They are breeding migrants to parts of Scotland, all of eastern Europe and most of Scandinavia (except the north-eastern part). South of about 45 degrees latitude they are found only as winter visitors or, in much of south-eastern Europe, on migration to their winter quarters around the Mediterranean and Black Sea. Race "faeroeensis" breeds on Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Shetland and Orkney and overwinters in Britain and Ireland. The rest of the range is occupied by nominate race "gallinago". During the breeding season Common Snipes are usually found in marshes, bogs and damp meadows. They have a preference for short, dense vegetation.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "gallinago" D. Wilczynska reports spotting a Common Snipe, nominate race "gallinago", in Biebrza NP, Poland, in June 2016, and a pair on the river Bug, near Malkinia, Masovia, Poland, in July 2019. S. Cuturilov reports spotting a Common Snipe, race "gallinago", on a fish farm near Temerin, Vojvodina, Serbia, in August 2017. Others were seen by A. Sarok in Vojvodina, Serbia, in the timeframe 2010-2024. J. Pires reports finding Common Snipes, race "gallinago", regularly outside the breeding season in various locations in southern/central Portugal. J. Pires also spotted a Common Snipe, race "gallinago", at Embalse de Arrocampo, Caceres, Extremadura, Spain, in December 2019. G. Normand found a Common Snipe, race "gallinago", 20 km North of Lille, Hauts-de-France, France, in November 2020, and another in Grand Voyeux, Seine et Marne, France, in September 2021. In August 2022, during a time of extreme drought, H. Dahlem-Senger found a Common Snipe, race "gallinago", foraging in the open, on a bank of the river Rhine, in Eltville, Hessen, Germany. Race "faeroeensis" M. Eaton reports spotting a Common Snipe, race "faeroeensis", at Titchfield Haven National Nature Reserve, Fareham, Hampshire, England, in September 2019.

Photos

Race "gallinago"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Near-frontal view of a Common Snipe foraging in shallow water (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sorraia River, Coruche, Santarem, Portugal, December 2017]

Near-frontal view of a Common Snipe (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Near Malkinia, Masovia, Poland, July 2019]

Near-frontal view of a Common Snipe looking sideways (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Near Malkinia, Masovia, Poland, July 2019]

Near-lateral view of a Common Snipe looking at the observer (photo courtesy of A. Sarok)
[Vojvodina, Serbia, date unknown]

Near-lateral view of a Common Snipe foraging in shallow water (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Near Malkinia, Masovia, Poland, July 2019]

Near-lateral view of a Common Snipe (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, November 2013]

Close-up lateral view of a Common Snipe (photo courtesy of A. Sarok)
[Vojvodina, Serbia, date unknown]

Lateral view of a Common Snipe (photo courtesy of G. Normand)
[20 km North of Lille, Hauts-de-France, France, November 2020]

Lateral view of a Common Snipe (photo courtesy of G. Normand)
[Grand Voyeux, Seine et Marne, France, September 2021]

Lateral view of a Common Snipe (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, December 2013]

Lateral view of a Common Snipe (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, December 2013]

Lateral view of two Common Snipes on the bank of a river (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Near Malkinia, Masovia, Poland, July 2019]

Close-up near-dorsal view of a Common Snipe (photo courtesy of A. Sarok)
[Vojvodina, Serbia, date unknown]

Near-dorsal view of a Common Snipe looking sideways (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, January 2025]

Near-dorsal view of a Common Snipe (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, December 2013]

Dorsal view of a preening Common Snipe (photo courtesy of A. Sarok)
[Vojvodina, Serbia, date unknown]

Two Common Snipes, centre, in comparison with a Curlew Sandpiper (left), Ruff (right) and a Black-winged Stilt (back)
(photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Herdade do Esporao, Reguengos de Monsaraz, Evora, Portugal, September 2022]

Near-lateral view of a small covey of Common Snipes arriving in a wetland
(photo courtesy of A. Sarok)
[Vojvodina, Serbia, date unknown]

Covey of Common Snipes in flight, showing their upperwings (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Montargil, Alentejo, Portugal, November 2014]

Covey of Common Snipes in flight, showing their underwings (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Montargil, Alentejo, Portugal, November 2014]

Near-dorsal view of a Common Snipe in flight (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Sorraia River, Coruche, Santarem, Portugal, January 2018]

Dorsal view of a Common Snipe in flight (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Tejo estuary, Portugal, January 2019]

Race "faeroeensis"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Lateral view of a Common Snipe in shallow water (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Titchfield Haven National Nature Reserve, Fareham, Hampshire, England, September 2019]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Partially migratory

Elementary unit: Pair/group

Common Snipes are sedentary in western and central Europe; elsewhere they are migratory.

Common Snipes making use of their excellent camouflage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Montargil, Alentejo, Portugal, January 2018]

Common Snipes making use of their excellent camouflage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, September 2018]

Common Snipes making use of their excellent camouflage (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Mora, Evora, Portugal, September 2018]

Common Snipe hiding from the observer (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Embalse de Arrocampo, Caceres, Extremadura, Spain, December 2019]

Common Snipes resting by the water's edge (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Morraceira island, Figueira da Foz, Mondego estuary, Portugal, February 2023]

During the winter months Common Snipes can congregate in significant numbers (photo courtesy of J. Pires)
[Montargil dam, Ponte de Sor, Evora, Portugal, October 2021]

Food, Diet

Common Snipe with its prey (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Near Malkinia, Masovia, Poland, July 2019]

Common Snipes move their prey up with quick jerks (photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[Near Malkinia, Masovia, Poland, July 2019]

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

comsnip_jp_20201016.m4a

gallinago (Portugal)

Contact calls(?)

© JP

More Common Snipe sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

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