Snipe arriving back in Australia

August 13, 2017

Hi everyone,

After what we hope has been a good breeding season, Latham’s snipe are arriving back in Australia! At the same time, we’ve also had our first paper published – coincidentally on the arrival times of Latham’s snipe!

The first record of the season has been lodged from Jerrabomberra Wetlands on August 13th. This is one day earlier than the long-term average for arrivals into New South Wales (NSW) and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), as our paper has found.

Over the last two winters, when the snipe have been on breeding grounds we have been going through arrival reports for snipe in NSW and the ACT (this area as had the longest time series). Through using (mainly) newspaper reports from hunters in the early years, and birdwatcher reports from later years, we were able to track snipe arrives from 1846 to the present day (over 170 years). During this time, we found no change in arrival dates, with an average arrival date of August 14th (+/- nine days) each year.  If you think you have a snipe sighting earlier than the one recorded below for the year (see full list at the end of this page) – please get in contact!

As you can imagine, the first arrival location of the year were spread throughout eastern NSW and the ACT, generally matching the distribution of both the snipe and the majority of birdwatchers and hunters.

For members of Birdlife Australia, the full-text article can be found on the Australian Field Ornithology website here. Otherwise, please email djdwilson@gmail.com for a copy.