Common Snipe
Gallinago gallinago
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Cordats)
- ClassAves (Aus)
- OrderCharadriiformes (Caradriformes)
- FamilyScolopacidae (Sandpipers and Allies)
- GenusGallinago (Typical Snipes)
- SpeciesGallinago gallinago (Common Snipe)
The common snipe (Gallinago gallinago, formerly also known as Gallinago cælestis) is a small, stocky wader native to the Old World, where it breeds in marshes, bogs, tundra and wet meadows. It is usually shy and well-camouflaged, foraging in soft mud mainly for insects and earthworms but also some plant material. During courtship, males perform a "winnowing" display; flying high in circles and then taking shallow dives to produce a "drumming" sound by vibrating the tail feathers. Wikipedia →
<5% of wildlife watchers report a Common Snipe sighting in Masai Mara National Reserve, based on 29 days of visitor records from GBIF citizen-science data.
Closest Relatives at Masai Mara National Reserve
Common Sandpiper
Actitis hypoleucos
Wood Sandpiper
Tringa glareola
Green Sandpiper
Tringa ochropus
Common Greenshank
Tringa nebularia
Temminck's Stint
Calidris temminckii
Marsh Sandpiper
Tringa stagnatilis
Ruff
Calidris pugnax
Little Stint
Calidris minuta
Spotted Redshank
Tringa erythropus
Curlew Sandpiper
Calidris ferruginea
Crowned Lapwing
Vanellus coronatus
African Wattled Lapwing
Vanellus senegallus
📅 Monthly Probability
☀️ When They're Spotted
Most active during daytime hours (6am–6pm) · across all parks (global)
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there
Parks Where Found
Quick answers
What are the chances of seeing a Common Snipe in Masai Mara National Reserve?
About 1% of wildlife watchers report a Common Snipe sighting in Masai Mara National Reserve, based on 29 days of visitor records from GBIF citizen-science data.
When is the best time to see Common Snipe in Masai Mara National Reserve?
February has the highest sighting rate for Common Snipe in Masai Mara National Reserve in our monthly data.