The puna snipe (''Gallinago andina'') is a

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...

in tribe Scolopancinai and subfamily Scolopacinae of

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Scolopacidae Sandpipers are a large family, Scolopacidae, of waders. They include many species called sandpipers, as well as those called by names such as curlew and snipe. The majority of these species eat small invertebrates picked out of the mud or soil. ...

, the sandpipers and relatives.HBW and BirdLife International (2022) Handbook of the Birds of the World and BirdLife International digital checklist of the birds of the world. Version 6b. Available at: http://datazone.birdlife.org/userfiles/file/Species/Taxonomy/HBW-BirdLife_Checklist_v6b_Jul22.zip retrieved December 5, 2022 It is found in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, Bolivia,

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

, and

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

.Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2022. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2022. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/ retrieved November 10, 2022

Taxonomy and systematics

The taxonomic history of the

New World The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...

snipes of genus ''

Gallinago ''Gallinago'' is a genus of birds in the wader family Scolopacidae, containing 18 species. Taxonomy The name ''Gallinago'' was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 as a subdivision of the genus ''Scolopax''. Bri ...

'' is complicated. What is now the puna snipe has in the past been treated as a subspecies of

common snipe The common snipe (''Gallinago gallinago'') is a small, stocky wader native to the Old World. The breeding habitats are marshes, bogs, tundra and wet meadows throughout the Palearctic. In the north, the distribution limit extends from Iceland ov ...

(''G. gallinago'') with what are now the Pantanal snipe (''G. paraguaiae'') and the Magellanic snipe (''G. magellanica''). After the puna snipe was recognized as a species, the Pantanal and Magellanic snipes were sometimes treated as subspecies of it. By about the year 2000 all three were beginning to be recognized as individual species by most taxonomic systems. The current (2022) puna snipe has two subspecies, the

nominate Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list. Political office In the ...

''G. a. andina'' ( Taczanowski, 1875) and ''G. a. innotata'' ( Hellmayr, 1932).Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 July 2022. A classification of the bird species of South America. American Ornithological Society. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.htm retrieved July 24, 2022

Description

The puna snipe is long and weighs . The sexes are alike. Their upperparts have a complex pattern of muted whitish, buffy, rufous, black, and brown. White trailing edges to their wings show when in flight. Their breast and flanks are buff with black markings and the rest of their underparts white. Their white face has a bold brown stripe through the eye.del Hoyo, J., N. Collar, and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Puna Snipe (''Gallinago andina''), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.punsni1.01 retrieved December 8, 2022

Distribution and habitat

The nominate subspecies of puna snipe is found in the Andes of Peru, northern Chile, Bolivia, and northwestern Argentina. Undocumented sight records in Ecuador lead the South American Classification Committee of the

American Ornithological Society The American Ornithological Society (AOS) is an ornithological organization based in the United States. The society was formed in October 2016 by the merger of the American Ornithologists' Union (AOU) and the Cooper Ornithological Society. Its m ...

to class it as hypothetical in that country.Remsen, J. V., Jr., J. I. Areta, E. Bonaccorso, S. Claramunt, A. Jaramillo, D. F. Lane, J. F. Pacheco, M. B. Robbins, F. G. Stiles, and K. J. Zimmer. Version 24 July 2022. Species Lists of Birds for South American Countries and Territories. https://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCCountryLists.htm retrieved July 24, 2022 Subspecies ''G. a. innotata'' is found only in northern Chiles's

Antofagasta Region The Antofagasta Region ( es, Región de Antofagasta, ) is one of Chile's sixteen first-order administrative divisions. The second-largest region of Chile in area, it comprises three provinces, Antofagasta, El Loa and Tocopilla. It is bordered t ...

. The puna snipe inhabits the

puna grassland The puna grassland ecoregion, of the montane grasslands and shrublands biome, is found in the central Andes Mountains of South America. It is considered one of the eight Natural Regions in Peru,Pulgar Vidal, Javier: Geografía del Perú; Las Oc ...

zone of the Andes. It favors damp to wet landscapes such as boggy rivers,

cushion plant A cushion plant is a compact, low-growing, mat-forming plant that is found in alpine, subalpine, arctic, or subarctic environments around the world. The term "cushion" is usually applied to woody plants that grow as spreading mats, are limited in ...

bogs, the reedy edges of ponds, lakes, and rivers, and sometimes open reed marshes. In elevation it ranges between in Peru, between in Chile, and between in Argentina.

Behavior

Movement

Some members of the Argentinian population of the puna snipe's nominate subspecies move east onto the

pampas The Pampas (from the qu, pampa, meaning "plain") are fertile South American low grasslands that cover more than and include the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos, and Córdoba; all of Uruguay; and Brazi ...

during the austral winter. Those in Chile and Peru appear to also move lower but not as dramatically. Movements of ''G. a. innotata'', if any, are not known.

Feeding

The puna snipe's feeding behavior and diet have not been studied. Both are assumed to be similar to those of other South American ''Gallinago'' snipes, which forage for insect larvae and earthworms by probing mud and wet soil.

Breeding

The puna snipe's breeding season varies geographically. It is mostly between October and December in Peru and includes at least September in northern Chile. The male performs a

winnowing Winnowing is a process by which chaff is separated from grain. It can also be used to remove pests from stored grain. Winnowing usually follows threshing in grain preparation. In its simplest form, it involves throwing the mixture into the ...

display during courtship, flying high in circles and then taking shallow dives to produce a distinctive sound. Nothing else is known about its breeding biology.

Vocal and non-vocal sounds

The puna snipe sings from the ground "a fast-paced but mellow-sounding 'tip-tip-tip-tip...', 'cut-cut-cut-cut...' or 'dyak dyak dyak .... dyuc dyuc dyuc...'". When taking flight it makes "a sharp, dry 'chep chep chep!', 'che’che’che' or 'dzeetch'". The species' non-vocal winnowing is made by air flowing over the outer tail feathers during flight. It is described as "a long, stuttering whoosh, rendered 'tch’ch’ch’ch’".

Status

The IUCN has assessed the puna snipe as being of Least Concern. It has a fairly large range, and though its population size is not known it is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified. It is considered fairly common in Peru and uncommon in Chile.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1121370 Puna snipe Birds of the Puna grassland Puna snipe Puna snipe