Habitat & Behaviour:

A highly secretive bird, the snipe is most often seen when it is flushed from tall, wet vegetation, zig-zagging away into the distance.  Today numbers are much reduced and distribution greatly restricted, mainly due to the decline in wet meadows that have been drained.

Identification & Voice:

In spring, snipe perform spectacular displays high in the sky.  Each male makes a series of dives during which feather vibration in the slipstream produces the remarkable throbbing known as 'drumming'.

Listen to the Snipe: