Wilson's Snipe | Gallinago delicata
A member of the shorebird family, the Wilson's Snipe inhabits shorelines and wetlands throughout North America.
Similar in size to sandpipers, snipes use their long beak to forage for aquatic insects by picking and probing in mud.
Snipes perform an amazing courtship flight display, circling high in the air for several minutes, then suddenly diving downward at high speeds.
During the downward flight, their tail feathers make a pulsing whistle that can sound like the hoots of a boreal owl. This behavior is known as winnowing.
Snipes are usually solitary and very well camouflaged. Careful observers will find them in healthy riparian and wetland habitat throughout the watershed.
Pictured above: A Wilson's snipe foraging in a Colorado wetlands. Photo by Bill Schmoker.
Snipe Hunting Myth
A snipe hunt is one of a class of practical joke that involve experienced people making fun of newcomers by giving them an impossible or imaginary task.
Inexperienced campers or hunters are told about a bird or animal called the snipe as well as a (usually ridiculous) method of catching it, such as running around the woods carrying a bag or making strange noises. Since the supposed snipe doesn't exist, the hunt never succeeds, no matter how foolishly the newcomer acts.
To extend the joke, there actually is a species of bird called a snipe, but it is found primarily in wetlands and the joke is invariably played in wooded areas. Tolstoy's novel War and Peace includes a real snipe hunt.
Snipe Hunting
Although the source of a practical joke, there actually are snipe hunting seasons in many states. Colorado hunters can legally hunt Wilson's snipe with a small game license from the Colorado Division of Wildlife from early September to mid-December. Their elusive behavior and quick, inpredicable flight make snipe one of the more difficult small birds to hunt.
