Gaillinago gallinago                                                 Photo Travis Blunden ©

Snipe are winter visitors to Florida. They are found in open wetlands, along the edges of marshes and on wet prairies, where they probe the mud for insects and worms and pick up plant material.

About the size of a quail, snipe are shy, well-camouflaged birds and fly only when closely approached. When flushed, they fly in a series of aerial zig-zags to evade and confuse predators.

Snipe are a popular game bird, and are hunted in many parts of their range. Snipe hunting requires exceptional marksmanship, and hunters were known as snipers – a term that was adopted by the military, and is now commonly used to describe a highly skilled sharp shooter.

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