Wilson’s Snipe

by Christopher S. Wood
If you were a Boy Scout, you probably were sent early in your career on a “snipe hunt” during a camp out. After enduring the laughter of the older boys when you returned in the dark, tired, wet, and hungry — and snipeless — you were convinced there was really no such thing as a “snipe.” (Perhaps Girl Scouts tortured like this also, I cannot attest.) And it wasn’t until you became a birder years later that you learned the truth: snipes exist, but they can be really hard to find.

Until recently, Wilson’s Snipe were considered a subspecies of the Common Snipe, which ranges over northern Europe and northern Asia. Common Snipe are occasionally found on the western islands of Alaska.

Wilson’s Snipe are cryptically and physically similar to American Woodcock but they are readily distinguishable by a head-striping pattern opposite that of Woodcock: longitudinal rather than latitudinal. More helpfully for ID purposes, the snipe prefers muddy edges of streams and ponds rather than forest openings as used by woodcock.

Because they do not nest in Connecticut, Wilson’s Snipe cannot be located by watching and listening for lekking displays, as we do with woodcock.

During migration, it’s possible that Wilson’s Snipe and American Woodcock could occur in the same habitat. On flushing, woodcock tend to zig zag straight up through branches, while Snipe zig zag horizontally with raspy “skaip” alarm calls. Look also for the whitish belly of the snipe, compared to the rufous underside of the woodcock.

In Connecticut, Wilson’s Snipe are generally found along Connecticut’s river valleys, inland lake shores, and Long Island Sound coast. Occasionally they are found in winter but they are most frequent during migration in March, April, and May and again in September and October.

A good tip from Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Birds of North America is that “In spring, [Wilson’s Snipe] migrates primarily on southerly winds after warm fronts, in fall mostly after cold fronts. Migrates on moonlit nights.”

Where to find it: As described by Birds of North America, the preferred habitat consists of “Marshes (including cattails), swamps, wet meadows, wet pastures, wet fallow fields, and marshy edges of streams and ditches.”

In Connecticut Wilson’s Snipe are found most often in wet farm fields and sedge meadows, usually bordering a stream or wet swale. They prefer close cropped vegetation, so wet farm fields that are mowed at least annually or are grazed by livestock provide suitable habitat.

Conservation status: Like many wetland-dependent species, loss of wetlands habitat has historically affected populations, as has excessive hunting. The continuing loss of maintained farmlands along migration routes, including in Connecticut, could likely affect this species, and consequently opportunities for observation in our State. While it is still hunted, there does not appear to be a consensus on the effect of hunting on populations; however, the species is not currently considered threatened or endangered.

Specific locations: The former Nyala Farm site, now corporate office complex: In Westport on Greens Farms Road just off the Sherwood Island Connector, a wet swale running through a regularly mowed field is an annual stopover in Spring. Scope the grass clumps and water edges near the antique well cover, but only from Greens Farms Road: straying into the field (from personal experience) draws immediate response from site security.

Horsebarn Hill at the UConn Storrs campus: Well covered by local birders, Horsebarn Hill records good numbers of Wilson’s Snipe in spring and fall migrations. The birds can be seen from several vantage points on Horsebarn Hill Road that circles the hill.

Sand Bank Road, Watertown: A very reliable location. Study the wet grassy areas along Hop Brook.