Jack Snipe

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Jack Snipe in the UK

Jack Snipe is a winter visitor and passage migrant. It breeds in northern Europe and Russia and does not nest in Britain. Birds are present from late September to April. It occurs throughout the UK in damp lowland wetlands and around the coast, and has been found in about 40% of 10-km squares in winter. The usual estimate is around 110,000 wintering birds, but that figure is rough and dates from 2004 to 2005, because the species is so hard to count. It is Green-listed. Many go unrecorded.

Where and when to see a Jack Snipe

October to March. Wet, rushy pasture, the muddy margins of pools and reedbeds, flooded stubble, cut reed and the upper edge of saltmarsh. The best views are from hides on wetland reserves, where one may feed at the base of the reeds among Common Snipe, most often early in the morning. Freezing weather pushes birds into the open by unfrozen ditches and springs. Most are seen only when they fly up from underfoot. Do not flush birds on purpose.

Habitat, diet and field notes

Habitat: Marshes (winter).
Diet: Worms, larvae.
Field note: Bobs while feeding; flushes silently.

How to identify a Jack Snipe

About two-thirds the size of a Common Snipe, with a much shorter bill, only about one and a half times the length of the head. The crown is dark with no pale central stripe, and the pale stripe over the eye is split in two. Two broad, golden-yellow stripes run down each side of a dark, glossy back. The flanks are streaked, not barred. When feeding it bobs its whole body up and down as if on a spring. It flushes at the last moment, flies low and straight for a short way and drops.

Call and song

Almost always silent in Britain. It usually rises without a sound, where a Common Snipe gives a harsh 'scaap'. Its odd display song, like a distant cantering horse, is heard only on the breeding bogs. Heard something you cannot place? Bird Hear identifies UK birds from a 10 second recording, free in your browser.

Confusion species

• Common Snipe: Common Snipe is larger with a very long bill, calls as it flushes and zigzags away high; Jack Snipe is silent and drops back quickly.
• Eurasian Woodcock: Woodcock also flushes silently from underfoot but is far bigger and bulkier, with bars across the crown, and prefers woodland.

Month by month

A winter visitor, typically in the UK from October through to April. Numbers peak in January. See the January birding guide for what else is about. More on the season in Bird migration in Britain.

Taller bars mean more birds about. Grey means it is usually absent.

Conservation status and Birdedex points

In the Birdedex the Jack Snipe is an Uncommon tier bird, worth +3 points when you log one. It is not on the Red or Amber lists in Birds of Conservation Concern 5.

Recent UK sightings

Similar birds

• Green-winged TealRare · Marshes (winter vagrant)
• Water PipitRare · Watercress beds
• Barnacle GooseUncommon · Coastal grassland (winter)
• Bohemian WaxwingUncommon · Berry-laden trees (winter)
• BramblingUncommon · Beech woods
• Common ScoterUncommon · Inshore sea (winter)

Jack Snipe: quick answers

Is the Jack Snipe rare in the UK?

No, but few people see one. Many thousands winter here, spread thinly across marshes and wet fields. Its camouflage and its habit of sitting tight until almost trodden on keep it off most day lists.

When is the best time to see Jack Snipe?

November to February, with extra birds passing through in October and again in March and April. A cold snap is the best time of all, because birds have to feed in the open where the ground is still soft.

What does a Jack Snipe eat?

Worms, insect larvae, small snails and other invertebrates probed from soft mud, along with some seeds and plant material. It feeds mostly from dusk onwards, which is another reason it is so rarely watched.

Kit that helps

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