South American Painted-Snipe

About the South American Painted-Snipe

The South American painted-snipe (Nycticryphes semicollaris), or lesser painted-snipe, is a shorebird in the family Rostratulidae. There are two other species in its family, the Australian painted-snipe and the greater painted-snipe.

Head and neck dark red-brown with a yellow stripe on the crown; upperparts dark grey-brown, spotted white; underparts white. Although the female may be slightly larger and brighter, in contrast to the two other species in the family, the South American painted-snipe is not strongly sexually dimorphic. It has a relatively long, decurved, bill. It has webbed feet, also a difference from the other painted snipe. Measurements: 19–23 cm in length; 65–86 g in weight.

A hoarse, hissing "wee-oo" has been recorded from birds in captivity. The species is found in the southern third of South America, from southern Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay to Chile and Argentina. It inhabits lowland freshwater wetlands, including wet grasslands.

South American painted-snipes are monogamous and breed semi-colonially. The nest is a shallow cup on the ground in a wetland... Wikipedia →