Discover

'Painted snipe' are three distinctive wader species placed together in their own genus '''Rostratula''' and family 'Rostratulidae'. They are short-legged, long-billed birds similar in shape to the true snipes, but much more brightly coloured.
The female is brighter than the male and takes the lead in courtship. The male incubates the eggs, usually four, in a nest on the ground or floating for about 20 days.
All three species live in reedy swamps, and their diet consists of annelid worms and other invertebrates, which they find with their long bills.

Contents

Species

References

External links

Species

★ Greater Painted Snipe (''Rostratula benghalensis'') is found in marshes in Africa, India and South-east Asia.

★ Australian Painted Snipe (''Rostratula australis'') is a rare, nomadic and declining species found only in Australia (Lane & Rogers 2000)

★ Lesser Painted Snipe (''Nycticryptes semicollaris''), inhabits grassy marshland in southern South America.

References

★ Lane, B.A.; & Rogers, D.I. (2000). The Australian Painted Snipe, ''Rostratula (benghalensis) australis'': an Endangered species?. ''Stilt'' 36: 26-34

External links

★ Painted snipe videos on the Internet Bird Collection

★ Greater Painted Snipe

★ Painted Snipe