Common snipes (Gallinago gallinago) are small, stocky waders native to the Old World. These birds are known for their courtship display in which males produce a sound that reminds the bleating of a sheep or goat; hence in many languages the Common snipe is known by names signifying "flying goat", "heaven's ram", "heather-bleater" in Scotland and in Finnish the name taivaanvuohi, "sky goat".
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CrepuscularCrepuscular animals are those that are active primarily during twilight (that is, the periods of dawn and dusk). This is distinguished from diurnal...
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CarnivoreA carnivore meaning 'meat eater' is an organism that derives its energy and nutrient requirements from a diet consisting mainly or exclusively of a...
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InsectivoresAn insectivore is a carnivorous plant or animal that eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which also refers to the human practice of e...
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MolluscivoreA molluscivore is a carnivorous animal that specializes in feeding on molluscs such as gastropods, bivalves, brachiopods, and cephalopods. Known mo...
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VermivorousVermivore (from Latin vermi, meaning "worm" and vorare, "to devour") is a zoological term for animals that eat worms (including annelids, nematodes...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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AltricialAltricial animals are those species whose newly hatched or born young are relatively immobile. They lack hair or down, are not able to obtain food ...
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NomadicNomadic animals regularly move to and from the same areas within a well-defined range. Most animals travel in groups in search of better territorie...
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CongregatoryCongregatory animals tend to gather in large numbers in specific areas as breeding colonies, for feeding, or for resting.
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OviparousOviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
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MonogamyMonogamy is a form of relationship in which both the male and the female has only one partner. This pair may cohabitate in an area or territory for...
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Dominance hierarchyA dominance hierarchy (formerly and colloquially called a pecking order) is a type of social hierarchy that arises when members of animal social gr...
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FlockingFlocking birds are those that tend to gather to forage or travel collectively. Avian flocks are typically associated with migration. Flocking also ...
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MigratingAnimal migration is the relatively long-distance movement of individual animals, usually on a seasonal basis. It is the most common form of migrati...
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Camouflaged AnimalsCommon snipes have short greenish-grey legs and a very long (5.5-7 cm (2.2-2.8 in)) straight dark bill. The body is mottled brown with straw-yellow stripes on top and pale underneath. They have a dark stripe through the eye, with light stripes above and below it. Their wings are pointed.
Common snipes are found throughout the Palearctic. In the north, the distribution limit extends from Iceland over the north of the British Isles and northern Fennoscandia, as well as through European Russia and Siberia. In the east, it extends to the Anadyr, Kamchatka, the Bering Island, and the Kuril Islands. In Europe, the distribution area runs through northern Portugal, central France, northern Italy, Bulgaria, and Ukraine. In Asia, it extends south to northern Turkestan, locally to Afghanistan and the Middle East, through the Altai, and further to Manchuria and Ussuri. Common snipes are mostly migratory; European birds winter in southern and western Europe and Africa (south to the Equator), and Asian migrants move to tropical southern Asia. These birds prefer to live near marshes, bogs, in the tundra, taiga, grassy edges of lakes and rivers, estuaries, ponds, rice fields, and wet meadows.
Common snipes are social birds that usually forage in small groups and may gather in flocks of up to 500 individuals at rich feeding grounds. They feed at dawn and dusk wading in soft mud, probing or picking up food by sight. These are shy birds that conceal themselves close to ground vegetation and flush only when approached closely. When flushed, they utter a sharp note that sounds like scape and fly off in a series of aerial zig-zags to confuse predators.
Common snipes are carnivores. They mainly eat insects, earthworms, small crustaceans, snails, spiders, and also some plant material.
Common snipes are monogamous and form pairs. In order to attract the female, males perform "winnowing" courtship display; they fly high in circles and then take shallow dives to produce a "drumming" sound by vibrating their tail feathers. After the pair was formed, the birds nest in a well-hidden location on the ground, laying 4 eggs of a dark olive color, blotched and spotted with a rich brown. The eggs are incubated by the female for 18-21 days. The freshly hatched chicks are helpless and covered in dark maroon down, variegated with black, white, and buff. They are cared for by both parents and each parent looks after half the brood. The young start to fly when they are between 10 and 20 days old.
Overall, Common snipes are not threatened at present. However, populations on the southern fringes of the breeding range in Europe are declining with local extinction in some areas (notably in parts of England and Germany), mainly due to field drainage and agricultural intensification. Common snipes are also still hunted as a gamebird in much of their range.
According to the IUCN Red List, the global population size of the Common snipe is 15,000,000-29,000,000 mature individuals. The European population includes 2,670,000-5,060,000 pairs, which equates to 5,350,000-10,100,000 mature individuals. Currently, this species is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List but its numbers today are decreasing.
Social animals are those animals that interact highly with other animals, usually of their own species (conspecifics), to the point of having a rec...