The solitary snipe is a small stocky wader. It is found in the Palearctic from northeast Iran to Korea and Japan.
Region
Palearctic East and Central Asia
Typical Environment
Occurs from northeastern Iran across Central Asia and southern Siberia to Korea and Japan. Breeds and resides in bogs, marshy taiga clearings, willow–alder swamps, and wet alpine meadows. In nonbreeding season it uses unfrozen streams, spring-fed seeps, rice paddies, and wet meadows. Prefers dense cover with soft, saturated soils for probing. Typically encountered singly and often at concealed feeding spots along quiet water.
Altitude Range
Sea level to 3500 m
Climate Zone
Temperate
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
The solitary snipe is a secretive, stocky wader that often flushes only at very close range, then zigzags away on whirring wings. It favors secluded, boggy habitats and is typically encountered singly rather than in flocks. During display flights, males produce a characteristic drumming or bleating sound with specialized tail feathers. In winter it often keeps to unfrozen streams and seepages where it probes for invertebrates.
An artist's illustration.
Solitary Snipe
Temperament
solitary and secretive
Flight Pattern
short rapid wingbeats with zigzag escape flight
Social Behavior
Usually encountered singly rather than in flocks. Nests on the ground in dense, wet vegetation, with a shallow scrape lined with plant matter. Clutch is typically three to four eggs and chicks are precocial. Males perform aerial displays over breeding territories.
Migratory Pattern
Partial migrant
Song Description
Generally quiet, giving a harsh skek or chup when flushed. In display, produces a distinctive drumming or bleating sound created by air rushing over outspread tail feathers during dives.
Plumage
Heavily mottled and barred brown plumage with buff and black patterning, giving excellent camouflage. Underparts are densely barred; back shows bold buff-edged scapulars and tertials. Head shows longitudinal striping typical of snipes, with a pale median crown stripe and supercilium. Bill is long, straight, and sensitive; body looks short-tailed and compact.
Diet
Feeds mainly on invertebrates including insect larvae, beetles, worms, small mollusks, and crustaceans. Probes soft mud and saturated soils using a sensitive bill tip to detect prey by touch. Will supplement diet with small seeds or plant material when invertebrates are scarce. Often feeds methodically along stream margins and seepages.
Preferred Environment
Edges of slow, shallow streams, bogs, wet meadows, and marshy woodland clearings. In winter, favors unfrozen seeps, spring-fed channels, and flooded agricultural fields such as rice paddies.
