Snipe
Snipe are medium sized, skulking wading birds with short legs and long, straight bills.
Get to know birds of prey with our guide to what you could see in winter.
Advice
Snipe conservation - Advice for farmers
The Snipe breeds in wet flushes on moorland, damp pasture and at the edges of watercourses.
On this page
Snipe in brief
The range in the UK declined by 32% between 1970 and 2010. The main reason for the decline on farmland has been the drainage of grassland and moorland.
Key points
- Retain and restore patches of wet ground in both grassland and moorland areas.
- Extensively graze wet grassland to provide a mosaic of tall and short vegetation.
- Minimise grazing during the nesting period.
What this species needs
Wet ground and tall vegetation for nesting from April to July
The snipe breeds in wet areas with tussocky vegetation 10-30cm tall. Even small, wet field corners can be used.
Soft, damp soil for feeding
The snipe feeds mainly on earthworms, leatherjackets, beetles and caterpillars. Young chicks are generally fed earthworms collected by the parents around the nesting site.
How to help
Wet areas, ditches and drains
- Wet flushes, boggy areas and damp, rough grassland can be retained or re-created by avoiding or minimising new drainage and by blocking grips and drains where this is feasible. Even small wet flushes, created by blocking one field drain, can be very valuable.
- Maintain or create suitable nesting habitat along the margins of watercourses with light grazing, preferably by cattle, from late summer.
On unimproved pasture
- Unimproved pasture should be managed with no, or limited use of fertiliser.
- Use light stocking levels from mid-March to the end of July to maintain tall vegetation in the wet flushes during the breeding season.
- Grazing by cattle from late summer onwards will provide a tussocky sward for nesting and feeding the following spring.
On moorland
- Avoid draining moorland areas and restore wet flushes by blocking grips. Avoid converting moorland to grassland by liming, fertilising or re-seeding. Avoid burning large patches for grazing.
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