Snipe
| Irish Name: | Naoscach |
| Scientific name: | Gallinago gallinago |
| Bird Family: | Waders |
red
Conservation status
Conservation status
Status
Summer visitor from west Europe and west Africa, winter visitor from Faeroe Islands, Iceland and northern Scotland.
Identification
A relatively common wader but not easily seen, unless flushed out of marshy vegetation, when it typically towers away in a frantic zig zag fashion. The disproportionately long, straight bill is easily visible in flight. If you are lucky enough to see one standing partially or wholly out in the open (usually at the edge of reeds), you will make out the series of dark brown, pale buff and black stripes and bars on the head and body - this produces a good camouflage effect.
Voice
Flight call an abrupt "scratch..". Song includes a far-carrying "chipper, chipper…" often at night - sometimes delivered from a fence post. During display flights over the nesting territory, they make an eerie goat bleating sound - this is called drumming and it is produced by stiff feathers sticking out at the tail sides, which vibrate as the bird flies in a roller coaster pattern in the sky.
Diet
Diet consists largely of vegetable matter and seeds, and earthworms, tipulid larvae and other soil invertebrate fauna.
Breeding
Nests on the ground, usually concealed in a grassy tussock, in or near wet or boggy terrain. Young leave the nest soon after hatching.
Wintering
Highly dispersed distribution in winter. They forage across a variety of wetland and damp habitats. Particularly high concentrations are found on the fringes of lowland lakes.
Monitored by
Widespread resident. Underrecorded during surveys. Shannon & Fergus Estuary in County Clare, Ballymacoda in County Cork and Tralee Bay, Lough Gill & Akeragh Lough in Kerry have supported the highest numbers (>150 birds).
Numbers bolstered in Winter due to migration of European birds.
Blog posts about this bird
€30 million scheme to help breeding waders announced
BirdWatch Ireland welcomes yesterday's announcement by Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan TD, that a new governmental scheme for the protection and conservation of breeding waders is to be established as part of a wider package of supports for climate and nature. €30 million has been set aside for the Breeding Wader EIP (European Innovation Partnership). €22.5 million is to be invested by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, with the remaining €7.5 million coming from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine.
Waders are amongst the most threatened of all breeding birds in Ireland, with six of the eight regularly occurring species on the Red List of Birds of Conservation Concern in Ireland. The six species in question are Curlew, Lapwing, Dunlin, Golden Plover, Redshank and Snipe. Five of these species have declined by at least 50% in the last forty years. Curlew and Lapwing have each declined by over 90% in the last twenty years and are considered to be approaching globally threatened status by BirdLife International.
Curlew in breeding habitat
Loss of breeding habitat through agricultural intensification, draining of peatlands and afforestation have all contributed to these declines, but widespread predation of nests and chicks by generalist predators such as foxes and crows have also severely impacted remaining populations in recent years. BirdWatch Ireland had previously identified that a scheme underpinned by at least €30 million was required to support farmers to undertake measures to save Ireland’s breeding waders from extinction. We are pleased that the Irish Government has taken heed. The Government has been implementing measures aimed at protecting and restoring populations, for example, through the Acres Co-operation scheme and the Curlew Conservation Programmes. However, more ambitious plans are required if these iconic birds are to be saved from extinction. Linda Lennon, BirdWatch Ireland’s CEO, said, “The new measures which have just been announced could make a significant difference to saving breeding waders, but must be targeted and implemented correctly. Farmers have long wanted to act for nature but have lacked the funding to enable them to do so. This new funding stream must enable farmers to put in place habitat management measures to protect breeding waders on their land. “Predator control measures, including the installation of specialised fencing to exclude predators, must also be part of the solution. The effectiveness of such fencing has already been proven beyond doubt by projects implemented by BirdWatch Ireland and others and is crucial to efforts to save our breeding waders.”
Golden Plover in breeding plumage
BirdWatch Ireland expresses disappointment at outcome of Open Seasons Order review
BirdWatch Ireland acknowledges publication of changes to the Open Seasons Order by Minister Noonan for the coming season.
The removal of four duck species – Scaup, Pochard, Goldeneye and Pintail – due to severe declines in their populations shows some progress by the Minister to address the vulnerable status of these species. However, BirdWatch Ireland is disappointed that two additional species that we recommended for removal – Shoveler and Golden Plover – remain on the list though the science clearly shows declines in those populations also.
No rationale has been provided as to why these species remain on the list. The information provided announcing the decision is inadequate and lacking detail. The most severe impacts to waterbirds and wading birds that are on the Open Seasons Order relate to habitat loss and degradation, pollution, disturbance and climate change. However, every pressure and threat must be addressed considering the dire conservation status of many of the species that are huntable in Ireland. We hope that hunting organisations will support this decision and we also hope that government will assist hunting organisations to be able to contribute to data collection in Ireland.
Earlier this year, BirdWatch Ireland called for six of the 21 bird species currently permitted to be hunted under the Open Seasons Order to be removed from the list, a suggestion underpinned by the robust scientific evidence of their ongoing declines in Ireland. We also urged for more analysis to be undertaken by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) to determine how best to proceed in relation to nine of the other species listed. These proposals were some of many made as part of our submission to the public consultation on the review of the Open Seasons Order for Birds.
Launched on March 22 by Minister of State for Heritage and Electoral Reform, Malcolm Noonan, this consultation was aimed at gathering views to ensure that the hunting of the listed species was sustainable and in line with Ireland’s obligations under EU legislation. It also offered an opportunity to put forward other suggestions in relation to improving data collection and protecting vulnerable bird species in Ireland. In the submission, BirdWatch Ireland stated that Shoveler, Scaup, Pochard, Goldeneye, Golden Plover and Pintail should be removed from the list of species permitted for hunting. Of these species, five are Red-listed species on the Birds of Conservation Concern Ireland (BOCCI) list, while one – the Pintail – is an Amber-listed species. Indeed, data from BirdWatch Ireland’s Irish Wetland Bird Survey (I-WeBS) – one of Ireland’s longest-running wildlife monitoring programmes – has shown steep short- and long-term declines in the populations of these species. According to the latest I-WeBS data, which is collected in a standardised manner and analysed using best practice methods developed by international scientists, the Republic of Ireland population of Pochard is estimated to number 4,729 individuals, with estimates for the other species even lower – Shoveler (1,865), Goldeneye (1256), Pintail (1,017) and Scaup (167).
BirdWatch Ireland has also called for further analysis to be undertaken by the NPWS in relation to nine of the other species listed – Tufted Duck, Snipe, Mallard, Woodcock, Teal, Gadwall, Red Grouse, Wigeon and Jack Snipe. Of these species, three are currently Red-listed (Snipe, Woodcock, Red Grouse), with five Amber-listed (Tufted Duck, Mallard, Teal, Gadwall, Wigeon) and one Green-listed (Jack Snipe). Declining populations as underpinned by IWeBS data coupled with a number of data gaps give serious cause for concern for these species. BirdWatch Ireland called for the NPWS to carry out additional analysis of the data for these species across their wintering and breeding populations and range, in order to inform the best next steps to take for them.
In addition to the suggested changes to the Open Seasons Order Species list, BirdWatch Ireland made a number of other suggestions in its submission. It is calling for the Open Seasons Order to be reviewed more regularly, particularly in light of the ongoing threat of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) and the rapid negative change that could occur in a population as a result of an outbreak.
Supporting hunting organisations in the collection of data, extending the network of wildfowl sanctuaries, implementing a more regional- and county-based approach for certain species and addressing the issue of disturbance at important wetland sites are some of the other suggestions put forward by BirdWatch Ireland.
Throughout the submission, BirdWatch Ireland noted the Irish Government’s ongoing failure comprehensively to address the conservation of wild bird species and its poor track record in upholding its environmental commitments under EU law. This is despite Dáil Éireann’s declaration of a climate and biodiversity emergency in 2019, and the well-established fact that Ireland’s wild birds are faring worse than ever. Indeed, BirdWatch Ireland’s Birds of Conservation Concern in Ireland assessment in 2021 showed that 63 per cent of Ireland’s regularly occurring species are Red or Amber listed birds of conservation concern.
All birds, including Red and Amber-listed species, are facing numerous human-induced pressures and it is vital that the individual and cumulative impacts of these pressures are addressed.
If the State wishes to have any chance of reversing populations declines, it urgently needs to enforce environmental legislation, as well as ensure sectoral policies such as agriculture, afforestation, renewable energy and peatlands have conservation of bird species integrated firmly in their plans and processes.
