The noble snipe is a small stocky wader. It breeds in the Andes of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela above or just below the treeline. It is entirely sedentary.
Region
Northern Andes
Typical Environment
Found above or near the treeline in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, and northern Peru, favoring saturated highland wetlands. It frequents páramo bogs, peatlands, cushion-plant mires, wet meadows, and the margins of high-altitude marshes and streams. It also uses edges of elfin forests and shrubby páramo where ground remains soft for probing. Habitat quality depends on year-round waterlogged soils and dense tussock cover for concealment.
Altitude Range
2600–4300 m
Climate Zone
Highland
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
The noble snipe is a secretive high-Andean wader that relies on superb camouflage to remain unseen among páramo grasses and bogs. Like other snipes, displaying males produce a haunting winnowing sound as air rushes through their tail feathers during steep display dives. It is often flushed only at close range, zigzagging rapidly before dropping back into cover.
Illustration by Joseph Smit
Temperament
solitary and secretive
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with swift, zigzagging flush; low, direct return to cover
Social Behavior
Typically encountered singly or in pairs, keeping to dense wet grass and bog edges. Nests are well-hidden ground scrapes in dense vegetation. Males perform aerial display flights over territories during the breeding season.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Usually quiet; emits soft, sharp chip notes when alarmed or flushed. During display, males produce a distinctive winnowing or drumming sound created by vibrating tail feathers in steep dives.
Plumage
Heavily mottled and barred brown with buff and black, giving a cryptic, straw-tussock appearance; back with bold buff stripes and scapular edges, underparts pale with strong dark barring.
Diet
Feeds mainly on invertebrates including earthworms, insect larvae, beetles, and fly larvae, plus small mollusks. Probes deeply into soft mud with its long, sensitive bill to locate prey. May take a small amount of plant material or seeds incidentally.
Preferred Environment
Forages in saturated soils of bogs, wet meadows, and marsh edges, often among dense tussocks and cushions. Frequently feeds along shallow pools and seepage areas where the substrate remains soft.
