jack snipe

The jack snipe was formally described in 1764 by the Danish zoologist Morten Thrane Brünnich under the binomial name Scolopax minima. He specified the type locality as the Danish island of Christiansø. Brünnich based his account on "La petite béccassine" that had been described and illustrated in 1760 by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson.{{ cite book | last=Brünnich | first=Morten Thrane | author-link=Morten Thrane Brünnich | year=1764 | title=M. Th. Brünnichii Ornithologia borealis, sistens collectionem avium : ex omnibus, Imperio danico subjectis, provinciis insulisqve borealibus Hafniæ factam, cum descriptionibus novarum, nominibus incolarum, locis natalium et icone | language=Latin | location=Hafniae [Copenhagen] | publisher=Imprimatur J.C. Kall | page=49 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/57974748 }}{{ cite book | last=Brisson | first=Mathurin Jacques | author-link=Mathurin Jacques Brisson | year=1760 | title=Ornithologie, ou, Méthode Contenant la Division des Oiseaux en Ordres, Sections, Genres, Especes & leurs Variétés | volume=5 | language=French, Latin | location=Paris | publisher=Jean-Baptiste Bauche | pages=[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36294645 303-308], [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/36294653 Plate 26 fig. 2] }} The two stars (**) at the start of the section indicates that Brisson based his description on the examination of a specimen.{{ cite book | editor-last=Peters | editor-first=James Lee | editor-link=James L. Peters | year=1934 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=2 | publisher=Harvard University Press | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=279 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14483092 }} The jack snipe is now the only species placed in the genus Lymnocryptes that was introduced in 1826 by the German zoologist Friedrich Boie.{{ cite book | last=Boie | first=Friedrich | author-link=Friedrich Boie | editor-last=Brehm | editor-first=Christian Ludwig | editor-link=Christian Ludwig Brehm | year=1826 | title=Ornis oder das Neueste und Wichtigste der Vögelkunde: in Verbindung mit mehreren Naturforschern | volume=2 | language=German | location=Jena | publisher=August Schmid | page=127 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=euo0AQAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA127 }}{{ cite book | editor1-last=Dickinson | editor1-first=E.C. | editor1-link=Edward C. Dickinson | editor2-last=Remsen | editor2-first=J.V. Jr. | editor2-link=James Van Remsen Jr. | year=2013 | title=The Howard & Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World | volume=1: Non-passerines | edition=4th | location=Eastbourne, UK | publisher=Aves Press | isbn=978-0-9568611-0-8 | page=215 | url=https://archive.org/details/howardmoorecompl0001howa/page/215/mode/1up | url-access=registration }}{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=August 2024 | title=Sandpipers, snipes, coursers | work=IOC World Bird List Version 14.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/sandpipers/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=9 February 2025 }} The species is considered to be monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. The genus name Lymnocryptes is from Ancient Greek limne, "marsh" and kruptos, "hidden". The species name minimus is from Latin and means "smallest".{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher=Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling/page/n233 233], 256}}

The common name has been said to come from the Welsh word for a snipe, giach (pronounced with a hard g), but modern dictionaries say it comes from the masculine name Jack. Alfred Newton hypothesized that, "It may be, as in Jackass, an indication of sex, for it is a popular belief that the Jack-Snipe is the male of the common species; or, again, it may refer to the comparatively small size of the bird, as the 'jack' in the game of bowls is the smallest of the balls used, and as fishermen call the smaller Pikes Jacks."

File: Scolopacidae - Lymnocryptes minimus.JPG

Adults are smaller than common snipes and have relatively shorter bills. The bird's length is {{convert|18|-|25|cm|in|abbr=on}}, wingspan is {{convert|30|-|41|cm|in|abbr=on}} and weight is {{convert|33|-|73|g|oz|abbr=on}}. The body is mottled brown on top and pale underneath. Jack snipes have a dark stripe through the eye. The wings are pointed and narrow, and yellow back stripes are visible in flight. When seen, the distinctive bobbing movement, as if the bird is on springs, has an almost hypnotic quality.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

The head pattern of the jack snipe differs from the common snipe and other species in the genus Gallinago, in that there is no central crown-stripe; instead, there are two pale lateral crown-stripes, which are separated from the supercilium by an area of dark plumage.

Jack snipes are migratory, spending the non-breeding period in Great Britain, Atlantic and Mediterranean coastal Europe, Africa, and India. The jack snipe is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies. Their breeding habitat is marshes, bogs, tundra and wet meadows with short vegetation in northern Europe and northern Russia. They are rare vagrants in North America.{{Cite web |date=2011-01-18 |title=Report a Rare Bird |url=http://www.narba.org/default.aspx/MenuItemID/104/MenuGroup/Home.htm |access-date=2025-03-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110118224253/http://www.narba.org/default.aspx/MenuItemID/104/MenuGroup/Home.htm |archive-date=18 January 2011 }} There is also a record from Colombia in South America.{{Cite journal |last=de Schauensee |first=Rodolphe Meyer |date=1959 |title=Additions to the "Birds of the Republic of Colombia" |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4064506 |journal=Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia |volume=111 |pages=53–75 |jstor=4064506 |issn=0097-3157}}

File:Lymnocryptes minimus MHNT.jpg

Jack snipes can be secretive in their non-breeding areas and are difficult to observe, being well camouflaged in their habitat. Consequently, birdwatchers have developed a specialised technique for finding them. This involves walking through its marshy habitat until a bird is disturbed and flies up. Jack snipes will squat down and not flush from cover until an intruder is quite close. They then quietly fly a short distance before dropping back into vegetation.

They forage in soft mud, probing or picking up food by sight. They mainly eat insects and earthworms, also plant material.

The male performs an aerial display during courtship, during which it makes a distinctive sound like a galloping horse. It is silent in winter. They nest in a well-hidden location on the ground, laying 3–4 eggs.

{{Reflist|refs=

{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Snipe |last=Newton |first=Alfred |author-link=Alfred Newton}}

{{cite book |url=http://global-language.com/CENTURY/ |title=The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia |volume=IV |page=3211}}

{{cite book |title=CRC Handbook of Avian Body Masses |editor-first=John B. Jr. |editor-last=Dunning |publisher=CRC Press |year=1992 |isbn=978-0-8493-4258-5}}

{{cite web |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/jack+snipe |website=Dictionary.com Unabridged |title=Jack Snipe}} (based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary)

{{cite book |title=New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary |page=1434}}

{{cite journal |last1=Thomas |first1=Gavin H. |last2=Wills |first2=Matthew A. |last3=Székely |first3=Tamás |year=2004 |title=A supertree approach to shorebird phylogeny |journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology |volume=4 |issue=28 |page=28 |doi=10.1186/1471-2148-4-28 |pmid=15329156 |pmc=515296 |doi-access=free }}

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{{Commons category|Lymnocryptes minimus}}

{{Wikispecies|Lymnocryptes minimus}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20161108184032/http://aulaenred.ibercaja.es/wp-content/uploads/192_JackSnipeLminimus.pdf Ageing and sexing (PDF; 0.57 MB) by Javier Blasco-Zumeta & Gerd-Michael Heinze]
• [http://www.ornithos.de/Ornithos/Feather_Collection/Lymnocryptes_minutus/Lymnocryptes_minutus.htm Feathers of jack snipe (Lymnocryptes minimus)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304094619/http://www.ornithos.de/Ornithos/Feather_Collection/Lymnocryptes_minutus/Lymnocryptes_minutus.htm |date=2018-03-04 }} at [http://www.ornithos.de Ornithos.de] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304095807/http://www.ornithos.de/ |date=2018-03-04 }}
• {{BirdLife|22693133|Lymnocryptes minimus}}
• {{Avibase|name=Lymnocryptes minimus}}
• {{InternetBirdCollection|jack-snipe-lymnocryptes-minimus}}
• {{VIREO|Jack+snipe}}
• {{IUCN_Map|22693133/166243794|Lymnocryptes minimus}}
• {{Xeno-canto species|Lymnocryptes|minimus|Jack snipe}}
• {{field guide birds of the world|Lymnocryptes minimus}}
• {{ARKive}}

{{Scolopacidae|2}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q26711}}

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jack snipe

Category:Wading birds

Category:Birds of Russia

Category:Birds of Scandinavia

Category:Wintering birds of Africa

Category:Wintering birds of Indomalaya

jack snipe

jack snipe