Editing Common snipe (section)

==Description==
[[File:Gallinago gallinago MHNT.jpg|thumb|upright=0.6|Egg]]
Adults are {{convert|25|–|27|cm|in|abbr=on}} in length with a {{convert|44|–|47|cm|in|abbr=on}} wingspan and a weight of {{convert|80|-|140|g|oz|abbr=on}} (up to {{convert|180|g|oz|abbr=on}} pre-migration). They have short greenish-grey legs and a very long ({{convert|5.5|–|7|cm|in|abbr=on}}) 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.<ref name=Hoyo/><ref name=Snow/>

The common snipe is the most widespread of several similar snipes. It most closely resembles the [[Wilson's snipe]] (''G. delicata'') of North America, which was until recently considered to be a subspecies – ''G. g. delicata'' – of the common snipe. They differ in the number of tail feathers, with seven pairs in ''G. gallinago'' and eight pairs in ''G. delicata''; the North American species also has a slightly thinner white trailing edge to the wings (the white is mostly on the tips of the secondaries).<ref name=Leader/><ref name=Reid/> Both species breed in the [[Aleutian Islands]].<ref name=Hoyo/> It is also very similar to the [[pin-tailed snipe]] (''G. stenura'') and [[Swinhoe's snipe]] (''G. megala'') of eastern Asia; identification of these species there is complex.<ref name=Carey/>

The subspecies ''faeroeensis'' is normally more richly toned on the breast, its upperparts and the head than the nominate ''gallinago''.<ref>Reid, Martin (2008) "Identification of Wilson's and Common Snipe", ''British Birds 101'', April, p. 190</ref>