Wilson’s snipe is a medium-sized wading bird with a long, straight, pointed black bill. It is 9.8–10.6 inches (25-27 cm) in length with a wingspan of 17-19 inches (44-47 cm).
It has a brown body with black bars, a striped head and back, and a white belly. Wilson’s snipe’s legs are shorter than most wading birds’ legs.
Wilson’s snipes are found in wet grassy areas of freshwater marshes, ponds, flooded meadows, fields, and occasionally, salt marshes.
The long, pointed bill of Wilson’s snipe helps it to probe in the mud for snails, small crustaceans, insects, larvae, and earthworms. It also eats some plant matter.
The male Wilson’s snipe arrives at the breeding ground first and stakes out a territory. To attract a mate, he flies and dives in the air and makes a loud drumming noise as air passes through his tail feathers.
The female lays four eggs in a grass-lined depression in a grass tussock. The chicks hatch after 18-20 days and fledge (develop flight feathers) at 19-20 days old.
Wilson’s snipe has a lifespan of around 3 years in the wild.
Wilson’s snipe usually stays hidden in the grass, but if it is startled, it bursts out from its cover and flies in a zig-zag pattern to evade predators.
Wilson’s snipe was once considered a subspecies of the common snipe (Gallinago gallinago), a closely related bird found in Europe, Asia, and Africa. In 2003, the American Ornithologists’ Union officially recognized Wilson’s snipe as a separate species.
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Wilson’s snipe is found in New Hampshire.
Wilson’s snipe breeds from Alaska to Newfoundland, south to the mid-United States.
It winters north from northern South America to British Columbia, the northern Gulf states, and Virginia.
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