Gallinago megala
Silhouette: Jamie Whitehouse · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
Swinhoe's snipe (Gallinago megala), also known as forest snipe or Chinese snipe, is a medium-sized (length 27–29 cm, wingspan 38–44 cm, weight 120 gm), long-billed, migratory wader. The common name commemorates the British naturalist Robert Swinhoe who first described the species in 1861.
It is identifiable as a Gallinago snipe by its cryptically patterned black, brown, buff and white plumage, but it is not easily distinguished from Latham's and pin-tailed snipe in the field. The species is commonly referred to as a cho suekyung in South Korea.
It breeds mainly in central and southern Siberia and Mongolia. The entire population migrates and spends the non-breeding season principally in eastern and southern India, Sri Lanka, south-eastern China, South-East Asia and New Guinea. It has been recorded on migration in eastern China and occasionally in Japan. Records in Australia are mainly from the Top End of the Northern Territory and from north-western Western Australia.
Breeding habitat: forest glades and meadows. Non-breeding habitat: shallow freshwater wetlands of various kinds including paddy fields and sewage farms, with bare mud... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gobi Gurvansaikhan National Park | 🇲🇳 Mongolia |
More parks will be added in future updates.
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Swinhoe's Snipe sighting in Hangzhou on a given day, based on 13 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 176th most-seen of the 219 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Swinhoe's Snipe in Hangzhou on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Swinhoe's Snipe sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 4 cities where we can rate Swinhoe's Snipe sightings, Hangzhou has the highest daily chance: under 5%. Next come Kaohsiung (Taiwan, under 5%) and Taipei (Taiwan, under 5%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Swinhoe's Snipe is recorded against all the birds logged in Hangzhou (13 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
