Latham's snipe (''Gallinago hardwickii''), also known as the Japanese snipe, is a medium-sized, long-billed, migratory

snipe A snipe is any of about 26 wading bird species in three genera in the family Scolopacidae. They are characterized by a very long, slender bill, eyes placed high on the head, and cryptic/ camouflaging plumage. The '' Gallinago'' snipes have a n ...

of the East Asian–Australasian Flyway.

Description

The snipe is 29–33 cm long, with a wingspan of 50–54 cm and weight of 150–230 g.

Identification

It is identifiable as a ''Gallinago'' snipe by its cryptically-patterned black, brown, buff and white plumage, but is not easily distinguished from Swinhoe's and pin-tailed snipe in the field, though it is slightly larger.

Distribution and habitat

The snipe breeds mainly in Hokkaidō in northern Japan, with smaller numbers on

Honshū , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island ...

, the eastern

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

n mainland and

Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh: ...

and, historically, the Kurile Islands. The entire population migrates and spends the non-breeding season principally in eastern Australia, where it is the commonest ''Gallinago'' snipe. It has been recorded on migration in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

and

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

, and is a rare straggler to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

. The snipe's breeding habitat in Asia includes alpine moorland,

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...

s, rough pasture, young tree plantations and cultivated areas. Non-breeding habitat in Australia is shallow freshwater wetlands of various kinds, with bare mud or shallow water for feeding and nearby vegetation cover for shelter.

Behaviour

Breeding

Courtship consists of display flights and drumming by the males. It nests on the ground, concealed in vegetation, with a clutch of four eggs.

Feeding

Latham's snipe is an

omnivorous An omnivore () is an animal that has the ability to eat and survive on both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize the nut ...

species that feeds on seeds and other plant material (mainly from species in families such as ''

Cyperaceae The Cyperaceae are a family of graminoid (grass-like), monocotyledonous flowering plants known as sedges. The family is large, with some 5,500 known species described in about 90 genera, the largest being the "true sedges" genus '' Carex'' ...

, Poaceae,

Juncaceae Juncaceae is a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the rush family. It consists of 8 genera and about 464 known species of slow-growing, rhizomatous, herbaceous monocotyledonous plants that may superficially resemble grasses and s ...

Polygonaceae The Polygonaceae are a family of flowering plants known informally as the knotweed family or smartweed—buckwheat family in the United States. The name is based on the genus ''Polygonum'', and was first used by Antoine Laurent de Jussieu in 1 ...

Ranunculaceae Ranunculaceae (buttercup or crowfoot family; Latin "little frog", from "frog") is a family of over 2,000 known species of flowering plants in 43 genera, distributed worldwide. The largest genera are '' Ranunculus'' (600 species), '' Delphiniu ...

'' and '' Fabaceae''), and on invertebrates including insects (mainly

flies Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwing ...

and

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

s),

earthworm An earthworm is a terrestrial invertebrate that belongs to the phylum Annelida. They exhibit a tube-within-a-tube body plan; they are externally segmented with corresponding internal segmentation; and they usually have setae on all segments. ...

spider Spiders (order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species d ...

s and occasionally molluscs,

isopod Isopoda is an order of crustaceans that includes woodlice and their relatives. Isopods live in the sea, in fresh water, or on land. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons, two pairs of antennae, seven pairs of jointed limbs on the thorax, an ...

s and

centipede Centipedes (from New Latin , "hundred", and Latin , " foot") are predatory arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda (Ancient Greek , ''kheilos'', lip, and New Latin suffix , "foot", describing the forcipules) of the subphylum Myriapoda, an ...

Status and conservation

Internationally, Latham's snipe is considered to be a species near threatened. In Australia it was previously hunted as a gamebird but is now fully protected. It is listed as "rare" under South Australia's National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972.

References

* BirdLife International. (2006). Species factsheet: ''Gallinago hardwickii''. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 9 February 2007 * Fujimaki, Y.; & Skira, I.J. (1984). Notes on Latham's Snipe, ''Gallinago hardwickii'', in Japan. ''Emu'' 84: 49–51. * Higgins, P.J.; & Davies, J.N. (eds). (1996). ''Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Volume 3: Snipe to Pigeons''. Oxford University Press: Melbourne. * Lane, Brett; & Davies, Jeff. (1987). ''Shorebirds in Australia''. RAOU: Melbourne. {{Taxonbar, from=Q941289 Latham's snipe Shorebirds Birds of Japan Birds of Oceania Latham's snipe Latham's snipe