The Wilson’s snipe is the only snipe found in North America. Its nearest cousin here is the woodcock, found in eastern forests. The snipe is brown over most of its body with black and yellow stripes. The bird’s belly is white which shows brightly when the birds are in flight. And, yes, an informed snipe hunt will help you find a snipe. It is simply a childhood myth, the idea of a snipe hunt. Recently I have been conducting successful snipe hunts at Minto-Brown Park here in Salem. Like all members of his genus, the American snipe likes sloshy grasslands. Though a “shorebird” he does not do ocean beaches or rocky cliff faces.  No, this snipe has a long beak and likes to have it poking into soft earth. Snipes in flight. (Harry Fuller/Special to Salem Reporter) In spring, in flight, the males make a curious winnowing noise. It’s created by air passing over his modified outer tail feathers during rapid dives in the air. Males winnow, and make calls while courting in spring. The females are slightly larger than males. A large snipe can be a foot long with a wingspan of 17 inches. The heaviest snipe just top 5 ounces. The adults’ beak is over two inches long and it is how they eat. The tip of the beak contains highly sensitive nerve endings — those can pick up scent, vibration, motion.  Those nerves inform the birds’ brain where an insect, worm or other edible item can be found in the mud. While the beak is pushed and withdrawn from the ground, this bird’s eyes are near the top of the skull. That means those bulging eyes provide 360-degree vision of the sky while the beak is in the ground. That means a harrier or a birder can almost never sneak up on this bird. In addition the snipe has very good hearing. The snipe nest near a marsh, on the ground. There may be as many as four eggs. When the eggs hatch, the male will take care of the first two. The rest will be parented by the female. She also does all the incubation. Here in Oregon some snipe breed in limited locations in Willamette Valley and in Cascade meadows. In eastern Oregon they are common in wetlands, like Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. The snipe’s diet includes insects and other small invertebrates, plus small frogs, some leaves and seeds. When you do find a snipe, it (or they) will fly in a zig-zag, often changing direction. They can reach a speed of sixty miles per hour. For information about upcoming Salem Audubon programs and activities, see www.salemaudubon.org, or Salem Audubon’s Facebook page. Harry Fuller is an Oregon birder and natural history author of “Freeway Birding” and the newly-published “Birding Harney County.” He is a member of the Salem Audubon Society. Contact him at [email protected] or atowhee.blog. His “Some Fascinating Things About Birds” column appears regularly in Salem Reporter. A MOMENT MORE, PLEASE– If you found this story useful, consider subscribing to Salem Reporter if you don’t already. Work such as this, done by local professionals, depends on community support from subscribers. Please take a moment and sign up now – easy and secure: SUBSCRIBE. The post COLUMN: Hunting for snipes at Minto-Brown appeared first on Salem Reporter.