Using its greatly elongated bill, the common snipe probes under the moist substrate for its insect, earthworm, crustacean or spider prey (2). Food on the surface may be located by sight and picked up, but prey under the ground is located using the touch-sensitive sensory pits at the tip of the flexible bill (3) (5). Smaller food items are swallowed whole, while larger items are broken into smaller pieces before consumed (3). The common snipe typically feeds at dawn and dusk, often in small groups, on land or in shallow water, but usually does not stray far from cover (2).
The common snipe breeds between April and August, with the males arriving at the breeding site up to two weeks before the females (3) (7). Initially, the female bird is courted by several males, but once the female selects a nest site, a permanent bond is formed with a single male. The pair bond is reinforced with a variety of courtship displays, including a ‘winnowing’ flight, which involves a slow ascent in a wide circle, before a rapid descent back to the ground (3). A simple nest, which is no more than a scrape in the ground lined with grass, is subsequently constructed by the female in a dry, elevated position concealed by long grasses (2) (3) (7). A small territory is defended around this nest by both birds and intruders are repelled by ‘winnowing’ flights, and on occasions when fight ensues, bill jousting (2) (3). Two to five eggs are laid at intervals of one day and incubated by the female for some 17 to 20 days (2). The chicks soon leave the nest after hatching, with the male taking half the chicks, and the female taking the other half. There is no further contact between the breeding birds, but they both carefully tend the accompanying chicks (3) (9). The young birds fledge after around a further 20 days, when they are capable of flight (7).