Giant Snipe
Gallinago undulata
Silhouette: Jamie Whitehouse · PhyloPic
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Chordates)
- ClassAves (Birds)
- OrderCharadriiformes (Shorebirds and Allies)
- FamilyScolopacidae (Sandpipers and Allies)
- GenusGallinago (Typical Snipes)
- SpeciesGallinago undulata (Giant Snipe)
About the Giant Snipe
The giant snipe (Gallinago undulata) is a stocky wader. It breeds in South America. The nominate subspecies G. u. undulata occurs in two distinct areas, one in Colombia, and the other from Venezuela through Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana to extreme north-eastern Brazil. The southern subspecies G. u. gigantea is found in eastern Bolivia, eastern Paraguay and south-east Brazil, and probably also in Uruguay and north-eastern Argentina.
It occurs in tall vegetation in swamps and flooded grasslands, and occasionally in dry savannah. It ranges from the lowlands up to 2,200 m altitude. It seems to arrive in some areas after rain, but its seasonal movements are very poorly understood.
The giant snipe was described by the French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon in 1780 in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux from a specimen collected in Cayenne, French Guiana. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text. Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific... Wikipedia →
Recent sightings of Giant Snipe in Canaima National Park
LIVEiNaturalistClosest Relatives at Canaima National Park
Paraguayan Snipe
Gallinago paraguaiae
Solitary Sandpiper
Tringa solitaria
Spotted Sandpiper
Actitis macularius
Southern Lapwing
Vanellus chilensis
Large-billed Tern
Phaetusa simplex
Wattled Jacana
Jacana jacana
Black Skimmer
Rynchops niger
Yellow-billed Tern
Sternula superciliaris
Global Distribution
Warmer areas are where this animal is recorded most often.
Parks Where Found
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canaima National Park | 🇻🇪 Venezuela | |
| 2 | Itatiaia National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Serra dos Órgãos National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 4 | Serra da Canastra National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil |
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Giant Snipe in Canaima National Park?
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Giant Snipe sighting in Canaima National Park, based on 26 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Giant Snipe in Canaima National Park?
May has the highest sighting rate for Giant Snipe in Canaima National Park in our monthly data.