Welcome to You Ask Andy

Bob Adams, age 12, of Charlotte, North Carolina, for his question:

What exactly is a snipe?

Snipe is a multi  purpose word that pokes its nose into various topics from feathery birds to sneaky sharpshooters. A human sniper fixes a sniperscope to a rifle, hides and snipes at an unsuspecting victim. Mechanical snipes include a bolt to fix a cart to an axle, a hinge for dumping, a tool for leading molten iron and a plane to mold grooves into wood. There is a snipe eel, a snipe fish and a snipe hawk. And all these snipish words conceal meanings associated with the original snipe    who is a wary, sharp billed bird, much hunted by hunters with shotguns.

The five snipe species of the bird world belong to marshy meadows and moist woods. They are plump, little ground birds with stubby tails and rather short legs. All of them wear very handsome plumage, speckled and freckled with buffs and tans, soft and rusty browns and rich chestnut.. Their identifying field marks include a startling style of flight and a rather ridiculous looking bill.

Most ground birds must be wary characters    but our common Wilson snipe is more so than most. His plump meat is said to be tasty and for ages human hunters have sniped him down with guns. At the sound of footsteps he swoops from hiding with a jerky, zig zag flight and loud whirring of his stiff feathered wings.

When undisturbed he spends most of his day grubbing for food. He samples seeds and waterweeds. But his favorite menu is insects and he uses his remarkable, slim, straight bill to prod for them in the moist earth. It is long enough to touch the ground without stooping and has a sensitive tip that takes the guesswork out of probing.

The snipe builds a nest on the ground, a slight depression lined with grasses. If he lives in a marshy meadow, the nest site is slightly elevated, often in a clump of sedges. The courting season buzzes with whirring, whistling excitement. But the snipe's serenade is created by the stiff vibrating feathers of his wings and tail. It is a high pitched hum that pulses to and fro. Human ears are baffled and find it hard to trace the eerie sound to its source. The snipe also has a harsh raspy voice. To scare intruders from his frisky youngsters he repeats a raucus, scolding cry that sounds like ''wheat wheat" or 'Sca e e ep."

Flocks of snipes return fn the spring and then scatter to nest through the northerly states and Canada. In the fall, the families regroup and the flocks fly south. Many spend the winter in the southern states. Others fly across to Bermuda or on down to Brazil or Colombia.

One or more of the five snipe species nest in most countries that provide suitable areas of moist earth. They are cousins of the wary woodcock who prefers to live in dry woods and meadows. Other relatives include the elegant plovers, plus the throaty curlews and the leggy sandpipers who enjoy life on the beaches. All these charmers belong in the Order Charaiiformes    meaning the plover type birds.

 

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