Madagascar snipe

Description

The Madagascan snipe (Gallinago macrodactyla) is a small stocky wader.It breeds only in the humid eastern half of Madagascar,from sea-level up to 2,700 m,being more common above 700 m.It is non-migratory.This is a large and heavy snipe 29–32 cm long with a stocky body and relatively short legs for a wader.Its upperparts,head and neck are streaked and patterned with bold dark brown stripes and gold edges to the feathers forming lines down its back.The belly is white,with some brown barring on the flanks but never on the belly.The blackish bill is very long,straight and fairly robust.The legs and feet are yellowish-olive to greenish-grey.The sexes are similar,and immature differ only in showing buff fringes on the wing coverts.The Madagascan snipe makes a hoarse hlip call as it takes off.In flight,it has a narrow grey trailing edge on the wing and a very dark underwing.The Madagascan snipe has never been recorded elsewhere,and no other snipe species have yet been recorded on Madagascar.Common snipe is smaller,has a paler underwing,and a white trailing edges on the wing.Pin-tailed snipe is similar in plumage to the Madagascan species,but is smaller,shorter-billed and shorter-tailed.African snipe is similar in build to the Madagascan Snipe,but has an obvious white trailing edge on the wing.All the snipes that are potential vagrants to Madagascar have a faster,lighter flight than the resident species.