By Dianna Moore

Grays Harbor Audubon Society

Wilson’s Snipes are real birds, not something made up to entice you into the dark night; you have heard of snipe hunts, right? As you can see by this photo, they appear during daylight hours when the sun gleams off their beautiful plumage. While they are often difficult to find thanks to their feather patterns and colors, they can be seen in many of our areas, and are well worth the effort to look.

General Description: Wilson’s Snipes are short, stocky birds with short legs and a very long bill. The patterns and colors of the feathers allow them to hide in plain sight. They are multiple colors of buff, brown, black, and white, with stripes running from bill to tail, and lots of barring on the breast. All of the birds are similar plumage, no matter the age or sex. They are approximately 10.6 to 12.6 inches in length, with a wing span of 16 to 17 inches, and weigh about 3 to 5 ounces. Wilson’s Snipe look so stocky thanks in part to the extra-large pectoral muscles that make up nearly a quarter of the bird’s weight, the highest percent of all shorebirds. Thanks to their massive flight muscles this chunky sandpiper can reach speeds estimated at 60 miles an hour.

Habitat: During migration and winter, these birds can be found in salt marshes, estuaries, and other mucky areas. During their breeding period, they are found in lowland, freshwater marshes and wet meadows full of emergent vegetation, especially in sedge meadows. We have plenty of this habitat so they are fairly common to the Harbor.

Behavior: Wilson’s Snipes move slowly through their habitat vegetation, probing the mud for prey in an up and down sewing machine motion. They are usually solitary but may be found with one or two others. They are more easily seen during the breeding season, perched on the highest point around, singing to attract a mate. When snipes are flushed they take off in a fast zig-zagging motion. One of the most distinctive sounds of a Wilson’s Snipe is a winnowing sound made by air rushing through its stiff outer tail feathers as it dives from high in its display flight.

Diet: Snipes eat a variety of insects, earthworms, and other creatures that burrow in wet soil. They also eat leaves and seeds. The bill’s flexible tip can open to grasp food while the base of the bill stays closed. Snipe can slurp small prey from the mud without having to remove their bill from the soil, a useful thing when your bill is as long a the snipes!

Nesting: The male snipes arrive on the breeding grounds 10 to 14 days before the females, pick a territory, then sing and display their best flight “tricks” to attract a mate. The female builds a nest on a raised hummock of sedge, a shallow depression lined with moss, leaves, and grass, and sometimes weaves a canopy above the nest of the grasses along the edges of the nest area. The female incubates the 4 eggs for 18 to 20 days. The young leave the nest shortly after hatching but both parents tend the brood, often dividing them into two groups, each following a parent. The young start to probe for their own food at about 6 days of age, and by 10 days of age they are finding most of their own food. By 18 to 20 days they are mostly independent.

Migration: Wilson’s Snipes are somewhat migratory, with some moving into the southern U.S., Mexico, and Central America for the winter. In the spring, they tend to move north into Canada, Alaska, and the northern tier of the U.S. for breeding.

Conservation status: According to the Christmas Bird Count and the Breeding Bird Survey, the population of Wilson’s Snipes is in decline, mostly from the loss of habitat. The snipe is hunted in this state, so that factors into the decreasing numbers too.

When and where to find on Grays Harbor: The most reliable place to see Wilson’s Snipe is in irrigation ditches along the roads or in our large number of marshy and muddy puddles. I frequently see them in the center divider along Ocean Shores Blvd, especially during or just after a hard rain. Another good location is in the sewage treatment ponds; check along the edges.