Snipe Gallinago gallinago

The Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago), is a small, stocky shorebird. The breeding habitat is marshes, bogs, tundra and wet meadows in Iceland, the Faroes, northern Europe and Russia. European birds winter in southern Europe and Africa, and Asian migrants move to tropical southern Asia.. This well camouflaged bird is usually shy and conceals itself close to ground vegetation and flushes only when approached closely. They fly off in a series of aerial zig-zags to confuse predators. Snipe hunters, therefore, needed to be very skilled to hunt these birds and they came to be called snipers.

Factsheet: Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago