Listen to the common snipe
Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.
About the common snipe
The common snipe is a bird in the family Scolopacidae (order Charadriiformes). Its conservation status on the IUCN Red List is “least concern”. Adults have a wingspan of about 52 cm and weigh around 128 g.
What does the common snipe sound like?
Birds produce sound with the syrinx, a vocal organ deep in the chest that can make two independent sounds at once. Songs tend to be long and patterned and are used to hold territory and attract a mate; calls are short signals for contact, alarm and flight.
The recordings here are labelled as flight call and nocturnal flight call. Listen for differences in rhythm, pitch and repetition – the spectrum display makes it easy to see whether a sound is a pure whistle (a thin line), a harsh call (a broad band) or a trill (rapid repeated marks).
From Wikipedia
The common snipe (Gallinago gallinago, formerly also known as Gallinago cælestis) is a small, stocky wader native to the Old World, where it breeds in marshes, bogs, tundra and wet meadows. It is usually shy and well-camouflaged, foraging in soft mud mainly for insects and earthworms but also some plant material. During courtship, males perform a "winnowing" display; flying high in circles and then taking shallow dives to produce a "drumming" sound by vibrating the tail feathers.
Related birds in the genus Gallinago
More from the family Scolopacidae
Eurasian woodcock
Scolopax rusticola
Common redshank
Tringa totanus
Common sandpiper
Actitis hypoleucos
Eurasian curlew
Numenius arquata
Common greenshank
Tringa nebularia
Black-tailed godwit
Limosa limosa
Eurasian whimbrel
Numenius phaeopus
Green sandpiper
Tringa ochropus
Wood sandpiper
Tringa glareola
Dunlin
Calidris alpina
Frequently asked questions
What does a common snipe sound like?
You can hear 3 recordings of the common snipe on this page, including its flight call and nocturnal flight call. Birds produce sound with the syrinx, a vocal organ deep in the chest that can make two independent sounds at once.
Is the common snipe endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the common snipe as “least concern”.
What family does the common snipe belong to?
The common snipe (Gallinago gallinago) belongs to the family Scolopacidae in the order Charadriiformes.
Sources & credits
- Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) (W GALLINAGO GALLINAGO R3 C5) – CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Flight call, nocturnal flight call · Arnhem, Arnhem, Gelderland, Netherlands by Joost van Bruggen – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Bekassine (Gallinago gallinago) - Hjartarstaðir Guesthouse - 2022-07-11 02 30 16 by MVmath20 – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Wikidata Q25692 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Common snipe – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo by Alpsdake – CC BY-SA 3.0