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Imperial Snipe
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Scolopacidae
Genus: Gallinago
Species: G. The conservation status of a Species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species remaining extant either in the present day or the near future Near Threatened ( NT) is a Conservation status assigned to species or lower taxa which may be considered threatened with extinction in the near future although The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data List) created in 1963 is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global Chordates ( Phylum Chordata) are a group of Animals that includes the Vertebrates together with several closely related Invertebrates Birds ( class Aves) are bipedal endothermic ( Warm-blooded) Vertebrate animals that lay eggs. Charadriiformes is a diverse order of small to medium-large Birds It includes about 350 Species and has members in all parts of the world "Sandpiper" redirects here For the 1965 film see The Sandpiper. A snipe is any of nearly 20 wading bird species in three genera in the family Scolopacidae. imperialis
Binomial name
Gallinago imperialis
Sclater & Salvin, 1869

The Imperial Snipe, Gallinago imperialis, is a small stocky wader which breeds in the Andes. Philip Lutley Sclater ( November 4, 1829 - June 27, 1913) was an English Lawyer and Zoologist. Osbert Salvin ( February 25, 1835 - June 1, 1898) was an English naturalist. Waders, called shorebirds in North America (where "wader" is used to refer to long-legged wading Birds such as Storks and The Andes form the world's longest exposed Mountain range. They lie as a continuous chain of highland along the western coast of South America. For a century it was known only from two specimens collected near Bogotá, Colombia, and was presumed extinct, but it was rediscovered in Peru in 1967 and Ecuador in 1988. Bogotá —officially named Bogotá DC (DC for " Distrito Capital " which means "Capital District" formerly called Santa Fe de Bogotá Colombia (kəˈlʌmbɪə officially the Republic of Colombia () is a country in northwestern South America. Peru (Perú Piruw Piruw officially the Republic of Peru ( reˈpuβlika del peˈɾu is a country in western South America. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Ecuador topics. It is not known if it is migratory. Bird migration refers to the regular seasonal journeys undertaken by many species of Birds Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability

Contents

Description

This 29-31 cm long snipe has a stocky body and relatively short legs for a wader. A snipe is any of nearly 20 wading bird species in three genera in the family Scolopacidae. Its adult plumage is dark rufous brown except for the lower belly and undertail, which are white with heavy brown barring. The grey bill is long, straight and fairly robust, and the legs and feet are grey. The sexes are similar. The juvenile plumage is unknown, but in most snipes species, young birds differ from adults only in showing pale fringes on the wing coverts.

In flight, Imperial Snipe looks heavy, broad-winged and short-tailed, and the banded belly contrasts with the dark breast and underwing. It has a shatteringly loud raucous song in its display flight, starting with single notes and moving on to double or triple notes.

Compared with other snipe with an overlapping range, the Imperial Snipe is obviously larger than the Magellan Snipe, which has clear pale stripes on its back and lacks barring on the lower belly. The South American Snipe or Magellan Snipe, Gallinago paraguaiae, is a small stocky Wader. The race which occurs in the Andes, Gallinago paraguiaiae andina also has yellow legs.

Andean Snipe, Gallinago jamesoni, is similar in build to Imperial, but is paler on the throat and underwings, and has a less contrasted lower belly. The Andean Snipe, Gallinago jamesoni, is a small stocky wader.

Behaviour

The Imperial Snipe occurs around the tree-line at 2,745-3,700 m altitude in mosaic habitats consisting of a mixture of bogs, mossy areas, moist elfin forest, tree-ferns and tall grass. Little is known is known about its habits and it is mostly observed when displaying.

The dawn and dusk aerial display involves flying high in circles performing the extremely loud song. This is followed by a dive during which the bird makes a drumming sound caused by the vibrations of its modified outer tail feathers. Drumming (also called bleating) is a sound produced by Snipe as part of their courtship display flights

The Imperial Snipe’s diet is unknown, but other snipe species forage for insects and worms by probing with their long bills.

Status

Having been considered extinct for over half a century, the Imperial Snipe has now been found at at least six sites in Peru and twelve in Ecuador. Although it appears widespread on both east and west slopes in Ecuador and the east slope in Peru, it apparently occurs at very low densities (4-5 displaying within 1. 6 km2 of suitable ridge-top habitat (Terborgh and Weske,1972)) and known populations are small and localised.

This snipe’s habitat has been adversely affected by burning, grazing and conversion of páramo to agriculture. Paramo redirects here For the Butterfly Genus, see Paramo (genus.

However, if the number of records and known sites continue to increase, the status of this species may be reclassified to Least Concern.

References

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