Wilson's Snipe

Description:

I heard it long before I saw it, so I kept a close eye as we approached this stream and I was lucky enough to see it fly and come in for a landing. I have heard so many around the island, but this was my first time seeing one.

Habitat:

Mountain stream about halfway up Kashevaroff Mountain. The surrounding area is densely vegetated with a wide array of plant species

Notes:

A couple weeks before I took these photos I went camping, and throughout the night some snipes were winnowing (AKA drumming) and making quite large sounds for such small birds. The amazing thing is that the sound is made with their tail feathers and not their voices, and sounds like nothing else I have ever heard. The sounds is made "by the vibration of the modified outer tail feathers, held out at a wide angle to the body, in the slipstream of a power dive." It almost sounded like the sound did not dissipate, but rather traveled up to a point and stopped abruptly. It was very odd to experience.