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Learn more about "Snipe"
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Snipe
A '''snipe''' is any of nearly 20 wader|wading bird species in three genus|genera in the family (biology)|family Scolopacidae. They are characterised by a very long slender bill and cryptic plumage. The ''Gallinago'' snipes have a nearly worldwide distribution, the ''Jack Snipe|Lymnocryptes'' Jack Snipe is restricted to Asia and Europe and the ''Coenocorypha'' snipes are found only in New Zealand. The three species of painted snipe are not closely related to the typical snipes, and are placed in their own family, the Rostratulidae.
Taxonomy
The snipe make up part of the wader family Scolopacidae. The 15 typical snipes in the genus ''Gallinago'' are the closest relatives of the woodcocks, whereas the small genera ''Coenocorypha'' (the New Zealand snipes) and ''Lymnocryptes'' represent earlier divergences in the snipe/woodcock clade[Thomas, Gavin H.; Wills, Matthew A. & Székely, Tamás (2004): A supertree approach to shorebird phylogeny. ''BMC journals|BMC Evol. Biol.'' '''4''': 28. PDF fulltext Supplementary Material]
Behaviour
Snipe search for invertebrates in the mud with a "sewing-machine" action of their long bills. Most have distinctive displays, usually given at dawn or dusk.
The difficulties involved in hunting snipe gave rise to "sniper," referring to a skilled anti-personnel military sharpshooter. Genera
- ''Coenocorypha''
- ''Jack Snipe|Lymnocryptes''
- ''Gallinago''
See also
- Snipe hunt
Footnotes
External links
- Snipe videos on the Internet Bird Collection
Category:Heraldic birds
Category:Gallinago|*
Category:Game birds
Related Images
Sources: StartLearningNow, Wikipedia | Usage license: GNU FDL
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