Wilson's Snipe

A pulsing, hollow winnow made when air vibrates the stiff outer tail feathers during a steep display dive. On calm evenings, it can carry surprisingly far.

Breeds across Alaska, most of Canada, the northern and interior western United States, and locally in the Northeast. Winters from the southern United States through Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean to northern South America; a few linger year-round on the Pacific coast and in the southern tier.

Freshwater and brackish marshes, bogs, fens, wet meadows, willow and alder swales, damp pastures, rice fields, pond margins and ditches.

Strongly migratory. Southbound movement begins as early as late July; most depart breeding grounds by October. Northbound migrants arrive February–April. Courtship winnowing peaks April–June.

Stocky, cryptically-plumaged shorebird of marshes and wet meadows. The species uses its extremely long bill to probe soft mud for invertebrates, relying on excellent camouflage to remain unseen until flushed, when it bursts from cover in a rapid, zig-zagging flight while uttering a rasping call. During courtship males perform dramatic high-altitude dives that create an eerie, tremulous "winnowing" sound with their tail feathers.