Great Snipe
Great Snipe ( Gallinago media )
The great snipe ( Gallinago media ) is a bird of the order Charadriiformes ( Charadriiformes ). In the north- east of Central Europe, the great snipe is a breeding and summer bird. Outside the breeding areas in central Europe, the great snipe is a rare, partly but regular migrant. During the migration period, it can be observed, for example in Brandenburg, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
Because of the continuing decline in inventory in Central and Eastern Europe, the great snipe by the IUCN as Near Threatened ( near threatened ) is classified.
Features
The snipe is 27-29 cm long, with a wingspan 42-46 cm and a weight of 150-260 g has order they built is stronger than the common snipe, has a more powerful but shorter beak and two white wing-bars.
The plumage is mottled brown above and beneath brighter. From the beak approach to the eye is a dark line.
Outside the Balzplätze snipes are usually silent. Startled birds can occasionally hear a fast, throaty croak. The vocal repertoire during Arenabalz other hand, is considerably larger. Of the males a low, only a few meters to listening bubbling is to multiply. In addition Zwitscherlaute are heard and Clicking and songs, which eventually merge into a loud, vibrating pipes.
Occurrence
The Snipe breeds in damp bogs, on flood plains and barren areas in the coniferous forest zone of Eurasia from Norway to the Yenisei. Among the most important European breeding areas include the Dovre Sunndalsfjella National Park, where about 400 breeding pairs nest. It is the only Central European country, Poland has a breeding population of snipes. This was estimated at the beginning of the 21st century 750 to 850 breeding pairs. Snipes are long- distance migrants and winter in the Sahel and southern Africa. Very few birds winter in Europe, most will stay in a hibernation site, including the south of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the west and the south of Tanzania, Angola, Zambia and Malawi. A less significant wintering quarters is located in West Africa from Mali to Chad.
The main feature of the Scandinavian and Finnish population runs on a broad front from north to south through eastern Europe. In Nigeria, the most common type in the period from August to September and can be seen in Kenya in the period from mid-October to mid-November. The spring migration begins very late, individual birds are still holding in April in Zambia. The return migration, however, runs very fast and the breeding areas are occupied from May to early June again.
Behavior
The food of the great snipe consists mainly of earthworms, mollusks, insects and their larvae, and seeds.
The snipe has an elaborate courtship ritual, in which up to ten and in rare cases up to 20 males gather in specific locations to Gemeinschaftsbalz. For Balzrepertoire includes both a Singbalz and flutter jumps, jumping at the same time two males one to two meters. If you see a female in the area of a male approaches under this lively flutter jumps and courtship song. This behavior also attracts the males from the nearby areas, which leads to tracking flights and numerous clashes among the males. A solid pair of binding does not make out.
The nest is a flat, cushioned with some grass and moss nest hollow, which is usually well hidden in dense vegetation. The nest consists of three to four eggs. The incubation period is 22 to 24 days and only the female parent bird nests. The young birds are out 21 to 28 days.
Stock development
Snipes also occurred in northern Germany in the 19th century. However, from the mid-19th century it came in Central Europe in a dramatic stock slump. In Denmark, the breeding population in 1902 was extinguished. , The last German breeding birds there were in the 1930s, in Mecklenburg- Vorpommern. In the 1970s, stocks in Finland, Lithuania and Latvia almost completely extinguished. In many areas of the Ukraine and in western and southern Russia and in numerous other lowland areas of western Poland stocks were also reduced dramatically. The still existing Polish breeding population breeds in still largely undamaged river valleys of central and eastern Poland. The entire European population is estimated at the beginning of the 21st century on 62000-170000 breeding pairs. The largest holdings are in the European part of Russia with 50000-140000 breeding pairs and Belarus with 4600-6000 breeding pairs and Norway, where even 5000-15000 pairs breed.
Stock Projection
The Snipe is one of the species that will be particularly affected by climate change. A research team that examined the future diffusion trend of European breeding birds on the basis of climate models for the UK Environment Agency and the RSPB, assumes that the distribution area is much smaller, until the end of the 21st century and move to the northeast. The distribution area will reduce, among other things in Scandinavia. In Central Europe the species is, however, completely absent.