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Swinhoe's Snipe

Gallinago megala

IUCN status: Least concern

 

Swinhoe’s Snipe. Roebuck Plains. WA. Robert Bush

Identification

Almost identical to Latham’s Snipe. Only difference is tail structure.

Confusing Species

Latham’s Snipe

Pin-tailed Snipe

 

 

Distribution

 

Distribution

in Australia, between Kimberley region and Cape York Peninsula.

Migratory habits

Migrates to India, SE Asia and northern Australia

Breeding

Breeds in central and southern Siberia.

eBird reports of Swinhoe’s Snipe in Queensland

Location State Sighting period
Braemeadows, Hinchinbrook Qld Feb 2020
Hastie’s Swamp Qld Jan 2018
Daintree Village Qld Nov 2019
Keating’sLagoon Conservation Park Qld Dec 2018
Lockhart River Qld Dec 2009
Lake Moondarra  Qld Dec 2023

References

  1. eBird. 2021. eBird: An online database of bird distribution and abundance [web application]. eBird, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Available:  http://www.ebird.org (Accessed: Date 12/4/2026)
  2. Rogers A, Fuller RA & Amano T (2023) Australia’s migratory shorebirds: Trends and prospects. Report to the National Environmental Science Program. University of Queensland, Brisbane.
  3. Driessen, J., Kidd, L. R., Weller, D. R., Purnell, C., Maguire, G., Jaensch, R., and LeClair, S. M. (2025). Australian National Directory of Important Migratory Shorebird Habitat. Report for the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. BirdLife Australia, Melbourne.
  4. https://sproggies63.github.io/birding_apps/
  5. Geering, Andrew, Lindsay Agnew, and Sandra Harding, eds. Shorebirds of Australia. Csiro Publishing, 2007.
  6. van Gils, J., P. Wiersma, and G. M. Kirwan (2020). Swinhoe’s Snipe (Gallinago megala), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.swisni1.01