Snipe

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Snipes
Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Charadriiformes Family: Scolopacidae
Genera
Coenocorypha Gallinago Lymnocryptes

A snipe is any of nearly 20 wading bird species in three genera in the family Scolopacidae. They are characterized by a very long, slender bill and cryptic plumage. The Gallinago snipes have a nearly worldwide distribution, the Lymnocryptes Jack Snipe is restricted to Asia and Europe and the Coenocorypha snipes are found only in New Zealand. The three species of painted snipe are not closely related to the typical snipes, and are placed in their own family, the Rostratulidae.

==Taxonomy== The snipe make up part of the wader family Scolopacidae. The 15 typical snipes in the genus Gallinago are the closest relatives of the woodcocks, whereas the small genera Coenocorypha (the New Zealand snipes) and Lymnocryptes represent earlier divergences in the snipe/woodcock clade^[1] (Also found in the Movie UP)

Contents 1 Behavior 2 Historical facts 3 Genera 4 See also 5 Footnotes 6 External links

[edit] Behavior

Snipe search for invertebrates in the mud with a "sewing-machine" action of their long bills. Most have distinctive displays, usually given at dawn or dusk.

[edit] Historical facts

The difficulties involved in hunting snipe gave rise to the term "sniper", referring to a skilled anti-personnel military sharpshooter. Colonial American snipe hunters used some of the earliest versions of a telescopic sight invented by American statesman and inventor Benjamin Franklin. This early version of the telescopic sight utilized two lenses affixed inside a tube made of hardened pigskin with cross hairs etched into the glass using acid.^[2] Bold text

[edit] Genera

• Coenocorypha
• Lymnocryptes
• Gallinago

[edit] See also

• Snipe hunt

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

• Snipe videos on the Internet Bird Collection