Puna snipe

Appearance

The puna snipe is 22.5 to 25 cm long and weighs 65 to 105 g. The sexes are alike. Their upperparts have a complex pattern of muted whitish, buffy, rufous, black, and brown. White trailing edges to their wings show when in flight. Their breast and flanks are buff with black markings and the rest of their underparts white. Their white face has a bold brown stripe through the eye.

Distribution

The nominate subspecies of puna snipe is found in the Andes of Peru, northern Chile, Bolivia, and northwestern Argentina. Undocumented sight records in Ecuador lead the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society to class it as hypothetical in that country. Subspecies "G. a. innotata" is found only in northern Chiles's Antofagasta Region.

Status

The IUCN has assessed the puna snipe as being of Least Concern. It has a fairly large range; although its population size is not known, it is believed to be stable. No immediate threats have been identified. It is considered fairly common in Peru and uncommon in Chile.

Habitat

The puna snipe inhabits the puna grassland zone of the Andes. It favors damp to wet landscapes, such as boggy rivers, cushion plant bogs, the reedy edges of ponds, lakes, and rivers, and sometimes open reed marshes. In elevation it ranges between 3,000 and 4,600 m in Peru, between 2,000 and 5,000 m in Chile, and between 2,000 and 4,000 m in Argentina.

Reproduction

The puna snipe's breeding season varies geographically. It is mostly between October and December in Peru and includes at least September in northern Chile. The male performs a winnowing display during courtship, flying high in circles and then taking shallow dives to produce a distinctive sound. Nothing else is known about its breeding biology.

Food

The puna snipe's feeding behavior and diet have not been studied. Both are assumed to be similar to those of other South American "Gallinago" snipes, which forage for insect larvae and earthworms by probing mud and wet soil.