Wilson's Snipe
(Gallinago delicata)

Overview

Summary

© Jukka Jantunen (flickr.com/photos/jukka_jantunen)
For additional photos and vocalizations, visit Dendroica. (Link opens in a new window.)

The Wilson's Snipe is among the most widespread and abundant shorebirds in Canada. It breeds in bogs, swamps, fens and other wet habitats across much of the country north to the subarctic tundra. Only a portion of its large range is covered by the Breeding Bird Survey, but results from this survey suggest that populations have increased since 1970. The species is hunted in Canada and the United States. This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada.

Designations

Population status

Population estimate

Distribution maps

• BirdLife International / NatureServe
• Breeding Bird Survey (BBS): Relative Abundance and Breeding Distribution (1993-2012)

Migration strategy, occurrence

Responsibility for conservation of world population

Conservation and management

Wilson's Snipe was reduced by hunting at the turn of the century but current populations are stable. Harvest rates in both countries have declined markedly relative to about 1970, and harvest in Canada has been consistently low for the last decade. The estimated harvest in 2009 was 2,632 Snipe in Canada and 83,500 in the United States (Canadian Wildlife Service Waterfowl Committee 2010, Raftovich et al. 2010).

Bird conservation region strategies

Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:

• conservation concerns (i.e., species vulnerable due to population size, distribution, population trend, abundance, or threats)
• stewardship responsibilities (i.e., species that typify the regional avifauna or have a large proportion of their range or population in the sub-region)
• management concerns (i.e., species that require ongoing management because of their socio-economic importance as game species, or because of their impacts on other species or habitats)
• other concerns (i.e., species deemed a priority by regional experts for other reasons than those listed above or because they are listed as species at risk or concern at the provincial level)

Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.

References

• Canadian Wildlife Service Waterfowl Committee. 2010. Population Status of Migratory Game Birds in Canada: November 2010. Canadian Wildlife Service Migratory Birds Regulatory Report Number 31. 95 pp. Canadian Wildlife Service Waterfowl Committee. 2010. Population Status of Migratory Game Birds in Canada: November 2010. Canadian Wildlife Service Migratory Birds Regulatory Report Number 31. 95 pp. (Link)
• Mueller, H. 1999. Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Mueller, H. 1999. Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. (Link)
• Raftovich, R.V., K.A. Wilkins, K.D. Richkus, S.S. Williams and H.L. Springs. 2010. Migratory Bird Hunting Activity and Harvest During the 2008 and 2009 Hunting Seasons. United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Laurel, Maryland, USA. 64 pp. Raftovich, R.V., K.A. Wilkins, K.D. Richkus, S.S. Williams and H.L. Springs. 2010. Migratory Bird Hunting Activity and Harvest During the 2008 and 2009 Hunting Seasons. United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Laurel, Maryland, USA. 64 pp. (Link)