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Great Snipe | Gallinago media
Poelsnip | Agachadiza real
A heavy, stocky snipe that crosses the region largely non-stop between its breeding grounds in north-eastern Europe and western Siberia and its winter quarters in tropical Africa. It is therefore recorded only scarcely and irregularly, mainly in spring in Egypt, the Levant and Arabia.
Voice
Usually silent when flushed; at most a soft, low etch or uk, much less harsh than Common Snipe. The display sounds of the leks are not heard in the region.
Recording: János Schadl — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · converted to mono · xeno-canto
Identification
Slightly larger and notably heavier than Common Snipe, with a shorter bill, thicker at the base, and a fuller breast. The flanks and belly are densely barred black far towards the rear, without the white belly of Common Snipe. The wing-coverts have rows of white tips that form clear white lines at rest. In flight it shows a dark wing with white borders to the greater coverts and much white in the outer tail feathers; the flight is straighter, slower and lower than that of Common Snipe, often dropping in again after a short distance.
Confusion species
Common Snipe (Gallinago gallinago) has a longer bill, a white belly, a clear white trailing edge to the wing, and flies off high and zigzagging. Jack Snipe (Lymnocryptes minimus) is much smaller, with a short bill and no central crown stripe. Pin-tailed Snipe (Gallinago stenura) lacks the white wing lines and has little white in the tail.
Habitat
On migration in drier parts of wetlands than Common Snipe: wet grassland, reed edges, flooded fields, rice fields and irrigated alfalfa and fodder crops, in Arabia also irrigated farms and lawns of irrigation projects. Rests hidden in dense vegetation by day.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the habitats of North Africa and the Middle East.
Range and movements
Migrates on a broad front across the east of the region. In Egypt scarce in the Nile Valley and Delta and in Sinai; in Israel and Jordan a scarce passage migrant, mainly in April and May in the Jordan and Beit She'an valleys and at Eilat. In Iraq scarce in the south and in the marshes. On the Arabian Peninsula a rare to scarce migrant in Kuwait (irrigated farms at Jahra), Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the Emirates, Oman and Yemen. Few records from Lebanon and Syria. Very rare in the Maghreb. Beyond the region it breeds in Scandinavia, the Baltic states and Poland to western Siberia and winters in sub-Saharan Africa.
- Winter visitor (c. Apr–Sep)
- Passage (Mar–Apr, Oct–Nov)
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
The best chance is in the second half of April and in May in wet fields in the Jordan Valley and at Eilat, and on irrigated plots on Arabian farms. Walk wet margins slowly: a snipe that flies off low and straight and soon drops in again, showing white in the tail, deserves a second look.
Conservation status
Near Threatened globally. The population declined sharply in the twentieth century through drainage and intensification of hay meadows in eastern Europe. On migration it depends on wet grassland and irrigated fields; hunting also plays a role in the region.
Scientific name
Gallinago media | (Latham, 1787)
Latham described the species in 1787 as Scolopax Media; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Gallinago was introduced in 1760 by Brisson. Gallinago is New Latin for a snipe, from Latin gallina 'hen' and the suffix -ago 'resembling'. media is Latin for 'intermediate': the bird is midway in size between the woodcock and the common snipe. The specimen the first description was based on came from England.