Wood snipe | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Charadriiformes |
Family: | Scolopacidae |
Genus: | Gallinago |
Species: | G. nemoricola |
Binomial name | |
Gallinago nemoricola Hodgson, 1836 | |
The wood snipe (Gallinago nemoricola) is a species of snipe which breeds in the Himalayas of northern India, Nepal, Bhutan and southern China. In winter, it occurs at lower altitudes in the Himalayas, as a regular visitor in small numbers to north Vietnam. it also occurs as a vagrant in central and southern India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, north Thailand and Laos. It is reportedly very well-known to Chauri herders in the Himalayas. [2]
This is a dark snipe, 28–32 centimetres (11–13 in) in length, with a short, broad-based bill. In the May-July breeding season, it breeds in alpine meadows above 3,000 metres (9,800 ft), moving to lower altitudes in the winter. Wood snipes breed and nest on boulders near rhododendron shrubs. [2] A 2021 study in Sichuan province during the breeding season (May-July), showed that the birds preferred the lower parts (3,378–3,624 m) of the alpine meadow with intermediate levels of soil moisture, with the birds preferring to forage at sites with higher soil fauna abundance. [3]
The species has been classified as vulnerable by IUCN, with a population of mature birds between 2500 and 10,000. [1] The widespread loss of wetlands habitats in its breeding and wintering grounds has been a major reason for its decline. [1] It has been recorded in some protected areas, including Langtang and Sagarmatha National Parks in Nepal.
It eats invertebrates, primarily worms. [4] Its diet also includes seeds [4] and larvae found in Chauri dung. [2]
It was first described in 1836 by Brian Houghton Hodgson. [5]
The Alpine chough or yellow-billed chough is a bird in the crow family, one of only two species in the genus Pyrrhocorax. Its two subspecies breed in high mountains from Spain eastwards through southern Europe and North Africa to Central Asia and Nepal, and it may nest at a higher altitude than any other bird. The eggs have adaptations to the thin atmosphere that improve oxygen take-up and reduce water loss.
The common snipe is a small, stocky wader native to the Old World.
Wilson's snipe is a small, stocky shorebird. The generic name Gallinago is Neo-Latin for a woodcock or snipe from Latin gallina, "hen" and the suffix -ago, "resembling". The specific name delicata is Latin for "dainty".
The great snipe is a small stocky wader in the genus Gallinago. This bird's breeding habitat is marshes and wet meadows with short vegetation in north-eastern Europe, including north-western Russia. Great snipes are migratory, wintering in Africa. The European breeding population is in steep decline.
The pin-tailed snipe or pintail snipe is a species of bird in the family Scolopacidae, the sandpipers.
The Tibetan partridge is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae of the order Galliformes. They are found widely across the Tibetan Plateau and have some variations in plumage across populations. They forage on the ground in the sparsely vegetated high altitude regions, moving in pairs during the summer and in larger groups during the non-breeding season. Neither males nor females have spurs on their legs.
The snow partridge is a gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae found widely distributed across the high-altitude Himalayan regions of Pakistan, China, India and Nepal. It is the only species within its genus, and is thought to be the most basal member of the "erectile clade" of the subfamily Phasianinae. The species is found in alpine pastures and open hillside above the treeline but not in as bare rocky terrain as the Himalayan snowcock and is not as wary as that species. Males and females look similar in plumage but males have a spur on their tarsus.
The white-throated bush chat, also known as Hodgson's bushchat, is an Old World flycatcher in the genus Saxicola. It is IUCN Red Listed as Vulnerable as of 2018. In 2001, the global population has been estimated at between 3,500 and 15,000 individuals. The major threat appears to be the rapid loss of grasslands in its wintering areas. It winters in the Nepal and Indian Terai and in the Dooars. In this region, it has been recorded in Jim Corbett, Shuklaphanta, Chitwan, Kaziranga, and Manas National Parks and in Lumbini Crane Sanctuary. It prefers wet and dry grasslands, reeds and tamarisks along riverbeds, and also occurs in sugarcane fields. In spring and summer, it breeds in the alpine or sub-alpine meadows and scrub in the mountains of Mongolia and adjacent parts of Russia. The white-throated bush chats is insectivorous.
The speckled wood pigeon, also known as Hodgson's pigeon or Jungle pigeon, is a medium-sized pigeon of the bird family Columbidae and genus Columba. It is a monotypic species. It measures 38-40 cm in length, with males featuring a pale gray head and females having a grayish-brown head. Males have a distinctive pinkish-silver breast speckled with black spots and a maroon belly, while females exhibit less vibrant coloration. Both sexes have blackish-brown tails and primaries, iris color differs slightly. The species is distributed across the Himalayas extending from Kashmir to western and central China, as well as parts of India, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, and Afghanistan. Inhabiting evergreen and semi-evergreen hill forests at elevations of 1,800-4,000 meters, descend in winter based on food availability. Diet consists mainly of acrons, berries, and fruits, typically foraging in small flocks. Breeding occurs from May to August, with nests situated 3-8 meters above ground.
Latham's snipe is a medium-sized, long-billed, migratory snipe of the East Asian–Australasian Flyway.
Swinhoe's snipe,, also known as forest snipe or Chinese snipe, is a medium-sized, long-billed, migratory wader.
The Nepal house martin is a non-migratory passerine of the swallow family Hirundinidae. Its two subspecies breed in the Himalayas from northwestern India through Nepal to Myanmar, northern Vietnam, and just into China. It occurs in river valleys and rugged wooded mountain ridges at heights between 1,000–4,000 m (3,300–13,100 ft) altitude, where it nests in colonies beneath overhangs on vertical cliffs, laying three or four white eggs in an enclosed mud nest.
The solitary snipe is a small stocky wader. It is found in the Palearctic from northeast Iran to Korea and Japan.
The imperial snipe is a small stocky wader which breeds in the Andes. For a century it was known only from two specimens collected near Bogotá, Colombia, and was presumed extinct, but it was rediscovered in Peru in 1967 and Ecuador in 1988. It is not known if it is migratory.
The plain mountain finch is a species of finch in the family Fringillidae. Its natural habitat is temperate grassland, upland forest and rocky cliffs. It is a resident breeder across the Himalayas. Their color and patterns resemble house sparrows.
The fire-capped tit is a small, 10 cm (3.9 in) long, weighing about 7 g (0.25 oz) bird species assigned to the family Paridae, that breeds in the temperate forest bordering the Himalayas to the south, in the Hengduan Shan and Nujiang Shan on the Myanmar-China border, the Micah Shan and Daba Shan on the Northern Sichuan border. It winters down hill and further south. Further to the east, birds tend to be smaller and the plumage becomes gradually darker.
The fire-breasted flowerpecker is a species of bird in the family Dicaeidae found in the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Like other flowerpeckers, this tiny bird feeds on fruits and plays an important role in the dispersal of fruiting plants. Unlike many other species in the genus, this species has marked sexual dimorphism with the male having contrasting upper and lower parts with a distinctive bright orange breast patch. The female is dull coloured.
The slaty-backed forktail is a species of forktail in the family Muscicapidae. A slim, medium-sized forktail, it is distinguished from similar species by its slate grey forehead, crown, and mantle. It has a long and deeply forked tail banded in black and white, a white rump, and a white bar across its primary feathers; the rest of the plumage is predominantly white. The sexes look alike. The bird frequents the edges of fast-flowing streams and rivers, where it hunts small invertebrates by hopping among rocks or flying out over the water. It breeds between February and July, laying 3–4 pinkish, bluish, or white eggs; both sexes incubate the eggs.
The grey-backed shrike is a bird in the family Laniidae inhabiting South-east Asia.
The Alpine musk deer is a musk deer species native to the eastern Himalayas in Nepal, Bhutan and India to the highlands of Tibet.