Habitat & Behaviour:
A highly secretive bird, the snipe is most often seen when it is flushed from tall, wet vegetation, zig-zagging away into the distance. Today numbers are much reduced and distribution greatly restricted, mainly due to the decline in wet meadows that have been drained.
Identification & Voice:
In spring, snipe perform spectacular displays high in the sky. Each male makes a series of dives during which feather vibration in the slipstream produces the remarkable throbbing known as 'drumming'.