Common Snipe
Gallinago gallinago
The Common Snipe is a small, stocky wader. The breeding habitat is marshes, bogs, tundra and wet meadows throughout northern Europe and northern Asia. It is migratory, with European birds wintering in southern and western Europe and Africa, and Asian migrants moving to tropical southern Asia.
Adults are30 cm in length with a 50 cm wingspan and a weight of 150 g. They have short greenish-grey legs and a very long straight dark bill. The body is mottled brown with straw-yellow stripes on top and pale underneath. They have a dark stripe through the eye, with light stripes above and below it. The wings are pointed. It is the most widespread of several similar snipes.
