Common snipe in Polissia
Gallinago gallinago
The common snipe is a small wader with mottled brown and buff plumage, stripes on the head and a very long, straight bill. When flushed, it bursts up from underfoot and flies off in a zigzag.
The snipe breeds in wet meadows, lowland and transitional bogs and floodplains. In Polissia it is common on the bogs of Volyn, Rivne and Zhytomyr regions and in the floodplains of the Prypiat, Stokhid and Desna.
In spring the male flies up high and dives steeply with its outer tail feathers spread. The airflow makes them vibrate, producing the characteristic “bleating” that gave the bird its name “baranets”. It feeds on worms and larvae, which it pulls from the mud with its long bill.
In May–June it is best to walk only on paths across breeding meadows: snipe nests and chicks are very well camouflaged and easy to crush.
When to see: April–June, at dawn and in the evening over bogs
Where it was seen in Polissia
Observations from the open scientific database GBIF since 1990.
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