Snares Island Snipe

About the Snares Island Snipe

The Snares snipe (Coenocorypha huegeli), also known as the Snares Island snipe, or tutukiwi in Māori, is a species of bird in the sandpiper family, Scolopacidae. The Snares Island snipe is one of a group of birds of sometimes disputed relationships in the genus Coenocorypha. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the Subantarctic snipe (Coenocorypha aucklandica), but has since been elevated to a full species.

The taxon was first described by the Reverend Henry Baker Tristram as Gallinago huegeli, with the specific epithet honouring British and Austrian naturalist Anatole von Hügel who collected it. The Māori name, tutukiwi, which may be applied to other Coenocorypha snipes as well, alludes to the bird's fancied resemblance in appearance and behaviour to a miniature kiwi.

The snipe is a small, chunky, and cryptically patterned wader with bars, stripes, and spots in shades of brown ranging from buffy-white to nearly black. It has longitudinal stripes on the face and crown. The bird possesses a long bill, short neck, and tail. Its outer tail feathers are narrow and stiffened, which is a modification enabling the distinctive roaring... Wikipedia →