Welcome to You Ask Andy

Phil Shepherd, age 11, of Covington, Okla., for his question:

 IS THERE REALLY A SNIPE?

To a fisherman, a snipe may be a tricky bait to catch a fish. And we all know that a human sniper is a cowardly character who hides in the bushes to shoot helpless victims. There also is a snipe of the animal kingdom. He is a bird of the marshy meadows. Though he is shy, we are happy to report that he is not a sneaky, cowardly sniper.

The snipe is not a rare bird, but we seldom see him. He ranges over most of North America, up into the Arctic tundra. His favorite haunts are moist woods and marshy meadows, usually near boggy pools and lazy creeks. By nature he is a very shy bird, who tends to stay under cover where his handsome plumage blends perfectly with his background. What's more, he tends to rest during the day and does most of his foraging in the dim light of dawn and dusk.

Our secretive snipe is a chunky fellow about 12 inches long. He has a very plump, bulging chest, a short neck, a little round head and a two inch bill like a spear. His tail is too small to mention. Strictly speaking, he rates as a wading bird, but his skinny little legs are too short to take him into deep water.

His most attractive features are his large dark eyes and his brown tortoise shell plumage. His bulging vest is creamy white. His sides and throat are spattered with elegant freckles. Several creamy color stripes run from the base of his bill, over his little head and along his straight back.

Usually he lives a solitary life, grubbing for worms and other meaty morsels to be found in soft soils and moist muds. And he has just the right bill for this job. Though it appears to be stiff, actually it is somewhat pliable. When poked all the way into the mud, he can open the tip to grab a snack underground.

Mrs. Snipe nests in a grassy hollow and her three or four brown speckled eggs hatch in about 20 days. The pretty brown chicks are ready to leave the nest, though the parents feed them for about two weeks Come fall, when the soft ground freezes, our entire snipe population migrates to mild winter homes in Central America.

 

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