Snipe Hunt!

As I write this, there are 10 more days to go and the Kiwa Trail will be open to walkers.  Time for a Snipe Hunt.  You might recall that a snipe hunt calls for an individual to be taken out into the woods at night with a big sack with instructions on how to call in and capture the animal, which might be described as a half jack rabbit/half squirrel or some kind of furry bird.  Usually the individual performing the snipe hunt is left in the woods making various sounds much to the delight of the tricksters that left them there.  It’s a long tradition started in the early 1800s as a right of passage for some.  But we have the real Wilson’s Snipe on the refuge and hunting for them is fun and rewarding.

Wilson’s Snipe, Gallinago delicato, can be seen on the refuge year-round and is one of the most abundant shorebirds in North America.  The name “snipe” is derived from “snite,” a variant of “snout,” and refers to the long bill of the bird. There are sensory pits near the tip of the long bill, which they use to detect prey as they probe in mud for small invertebrates. Their big dark eyes are set remarkably far back on the head.  This provides full vision to both sides and a binocular overlap to the rear, an arrangement which enables a bird to detect the approach of a predator while its beak is fully buried in the mud.

The snipe is dressed in a plumage that easily camouflages it in muddy areas of the refuge.  There might be fifty of them in that muddy patch just before number 5 on the auto tour, but they are not easily detected until they move.  Their crown is striped with black and buffy, upperparts a mixture of brown, black, and gray, forming spots and barring; light-colored spots tend to form 4 lines running down the back. It is those lovely lines on its back that easily separates this medium sized, slightly chunky, short-legged shorebird from other shorebirds for me.

But what I like best is to watch their spring behavior; it is worth your time.  I’ve been hearing the winnowing sound of the snipe out my car window the last few weeks as I drive around the refuge.   From the Kiwa Trail, I will be able to watch the whole flight.  Snipe have been reported doing the winnowing flight for up to an hour.  They take off and fly in a wide circle ascending slowly, rising up to about 150 feet, then they tilt and dive at 45° and make the winnowing sound. Both the male and female will perform the flight, but mostly it is done by males.  The production of the winnowing sound, hu-hu-hu is very intriguing.  It is produced by airflow over the outstretched outer feathers of a spread tail and modulated by the beating of the wing. It is primarily for territorial defense, but also may act to attract mates.

On the Kiwa Trail, make sure you check out the top of the small trees and bushes in the middle of the wetland area.  Wilson’s Snipe like to perch high up in the trees and call.  Their rapid “wheat-wheat-wheat-wheat-wheat” call can be heard easily.  It always surprises me to see a shorebird up in a tree, but this is what they do (as do Yellowlegs on breeding grounds) and it is part of why I enjoy watching them when May rolls around.

Take yourself on a Snipe hunt as soon as the Kiwa Trail opens May 1.  Enjoy the sights and sounds of our Wilson’s Snipe this spring.

-Susan Setterberg, Friends Board President and Contact Station Volunteer