Editing Snipe

{{short description|Common name for wading birds}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Paraphyletic group
| name = Snipe
| image = Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) (26144727151).jpg
| image_alt = Long-legged bird with long bill wading in marsh
| image_caption = [[Common snipe]] (''Gallinago gallinago'')
| auto = yes
| parent = Scolopacidae
| includes = 
* ''[[Lymnocryptes]]''
* ''[[Gallinago]]''
* ''[[Coenocorypha]]''
| includes_ref = 
| excludes = 
* ''[[Terek sandpiper|Xenus]]''
* ''[[Tringa]]''
* ''[[Scolopax]]''
* ''[[Prosobonia]]''
* ''[[Phalaropus]]''
* ''[[Numenius (bird)|Numenius]]''
* ''[[Limosa]]''
* ''[[Limnodromus]]''
* ''[[Calidris]]''
* ''[[Bartramia (bird)|Bartramia]]''
* ''[[Arenaria (bird)|Arenaria]]''
* ''[[Actitis]]''
| excludes_ref = 
}}

A '''snipe''' is any of about 26 [[wading bird]] species in three [[genus|genera]] in the [[family (biology)|family]] [[Scolopacidae]]. They are characterized by a very long, slender bill, eyes placed high on the head, and [[crypsis|cryptic]]/[[camouflaging]] [[plumage]]. ''[[Gallinago]]'' snipe have a nearly worldwide distribution, the ''[[jack snipe|Lymnocryptes]]'' snipe is restricted to [[Asia]] and [[Europe]] and the ''[[Coenocorypha]]'' snipe is found only in the [[New Zealand Outlying Islands|outlying islands of New Zealand]].  The four species of [[painted snipe]] are not closely related to the typical snipe, and are placed in their own family, the Rostratulidae.

==Behaviour==
Snipe search for [[invertebrate]]s in the mud with a "[[sewing machine|sewing-machine]]" action of their long bills.  The sensitivity of the bill is caused by filaments belonging to the fifth pair of nerves, which run almost to the tip and open immediately under the soft cuticle in a series of cells; a similar adaptation is found in [[sandpiper]]s; this adaptation gives this portion of the surface of the [[premaxillary|premaxillaries]] a honeycomb-like appearance: with these filaments the bird can sense its food in the mud without seeing it.<ref>{{EB1911|wstitle=Snipe|last=Newton|first=Alfred|author-link=Alfred Newton}}</ref>

==Diet==
Snipe feed mainly on insect [[larva]]. Other invertebrate prey include [[snail]]s, [[crustacean]]s, and [[worm]]s. The snipe's bill allows the very tip to remain closed while the snipe slurps up invertebrates.<ref name ="aab">{{cite web |url=http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/wilsons_snipe/lifehistory|title=Wilson's Snipe, Life History, All About Birds – Cornell Lab of Ornithology}}</ref>

==Habitat==

Snipe can be found in various types of wet marshy settings including [[bogs]], [[swamps]], [[wet meadows]], and along [[river]]s, coast lines, and [[ponds]]. Snipe avoid settling in areas with dense vegetation, but rather seek marshy areas with patchy cover to hide from predators.<ref name="aab" />

==Hunting==
{{For|the practical joke|Snipe hunt}}
[[File:Bay Snipe, by A B Frost from Shooting Pictures, by Scribner & Sons, 1895.jpeg|thumb|alt=Painting of a kneeling hunter shooting at a group of birds flying above a marsh|Depiction of a snipe hunter, by [[A. B. Frost]]]]
[[File:Snip in water, RP-P-1999-368.jpg|thumb|''Snipe in Water'', by [[Ohara Koson]]. Japan, 1900–1930]]

Camouflage may enable snipe to remain undetected by hunters in [[marsh|marshland]].  The bird is also highly alert and startled easily, rarely staying long in the open.  If the snipe flies, hunters have difficulty wing-shooting due to the bird's erratic flight pattern.

The difficulties involved around hunting snipe gave rise to the military term ''[[sniper]]'', which originally meant an expert hunter highly skilled in [[marksmanship]] and [[camouflaging]], but later evolved to mean a [[sharpshooter]] or a shooter who makes distant shots from concealment.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=sniper |title=sniper (n.) |work=Online Etymology Dictionary |access-date=7 January 2017}}</ref><ref name="Metaphors">{{cite book | last = Palmatier | first = Robert Allen | title = Speaking of Animals: A Dictionary of Animal Metaphors | date = 1995 | publisher = Greenwood Publishing | location = Westport, Connecticut | page = 357 | isbn = 0313294909 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kSr4fO2zYrIC&pg=PA357}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Snipe eel]]
* [[Woodcock]]

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{wiktionary|snipe}}
{{Wikisource1911Enc|Snipe}}
* [http://ibc.lynxeds.com/family/sandpipers-snipes-phalaropes-scolopacidae Snipe videos] on the Internet Bird Collection
* [http://www.fssbirding.org.uk/snipesonogram.htm Snipe sonogram] at fssbirding.org.uk

[[Category:Sandpipers]]
[[Category:Bird common names]]
[[Category:Paraphyletic groups]]