Editing Common snipe (section)

==Behaviour==
[[File:Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) at Bharatpur I IMG 5750.jpg|thumb|''G. g. gallinago'' at [[Keoladeo National Park]], [[Bharatpur, India|Bharatpur]], [[Rajasthan]], India.]]
[[File:Bekassine.jpg|thumb|''G. g. gallinago'' at nature park [[S'Albufera]], on the island of Mallorca.]]
The common snipe is a well camouflaged bird, it is usually shy and conceals itself close to ground vegetation and flushes only when approached closely. When flushed, they utter a sharp note that sounds like ''scape, scape'' and fly off in a series of aerial zig-zags to confuse predators.<ref name=eb1911/> They forage in soft mud, probing or picking up food by sight. They mainly eat insects and earthworms, also some plant material.<ref name=Snow/>

{{listen|filename=Gallinago gallinago.ogg|title=Common snipe|description=An example of the "drumming" sound.}}
The male performs "winnowing" display during courtship, flying high in circles and then taking shallow dives to produce a "[[drumming (snipe)|drumming]]" sound by vibrating its tail feathers. This sound has been compared by others to the bleating of a sheep or [[goat]]; hence in many languages the snipe is known by names signifying "flying goat", "heaven's ram", as in Scotland by "heather-bleater"<ref name=eb1911/> and in [[Finnish language|Finnish]] the name ''taivaanvuohi'', "sky goat".

[[Philip Manson-Bahr]] is credited with unravelling the mystery of how the snipe creates that unusual breathy sound which is unlike other birdsong.{{when?|date=November 2024}} He worked out that the sound was created by placing out two tail feathers at 90 degrees to the direction of flight. When diving these feathers create this unusual sound. He demonstrated this in front of the [[British Ornithologists Union]] by inserting two snipe feathers into a cork which he then whirled around his head on a string.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/apr/15/ridgehead-farm-staffordshire-snipe-lovesong|title=Unfolding the mysteries of a snipe's lovesong|last=Cocker|first=Mark|date=2012-04-15|work=The Guardian|location=London|access-date=2017-06-07|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

Wing shape does not differ between sedentary and migratory common snipe, suggesting that social selection influences wing shape given this species aerial displays during courtship.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Rodrigues, T. M. |author2=Andrade, P. |author3=Rodrigues, M. |author4=Gonçalves, D. |year=2018 |title=Mixed patterns of morphological adaptation to insularity in an aerial displaying bird, the Common Snipe ''Gallinago gallinago'' |journal=Ibis |volume=160 |pages=870–881 |doi=10.1111/ibi.12578 |issue=4}}</ref>

===Breeding===
Common snipe nest in a well-hidden location on the ground, laying four eggs of a dark olive colour, blotched and spotted with rich brown,<ref name=eb1911/> which are incubated by the female for 18–21 days. The freshly hatched young are covered in dark maroon down, variegated with black, white and buff.<ref name=eb1911/> The young are cared for by both parents, each parent looking after half the brood, with fledging in 10–20 days.<ref name=Hoyo/><ref name=Snow/>