Ok it seems that they are non breeding migratory waders.
So what's this about.
Latham's Snipe-7659 by rawshorty, on Flickr">[/url] Latham's Snipe-7659 by rawshorty, on Flickr
| Term and Conditions | Privacy Statement | Web Support by Gaia Resources Hosted by Serversaurus |  |
I don't know, perhaps the wind is blowing his tail everywhere? What ever the reason, this photo is definitely a keeper as it shows the individual tail feathers very clearly... useful for identifying the other snipe species.
Brandon (aka ihewman)
Nope, no wind. Not even a breeze. He seemed to be reacting to my shutter?
Shorty......Canon gear
Canberra
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rawshorty/
I think I can answer your question; I was looking at my copy of Shorebirds of Australia, and in the text for Swinhoe's Snipe it states:
"The tail of Gallinago snipe is very important in courtship display flights, with the outer tail feathers being vibrated during power-dives to generate species-specific sounds."
Gallinago snipes include Latham's Snipe, so I guess it was showing its tail in a courtship display. Were there any other Snipes that you saw in the area?
Thanks for that, Lachlan. The problem is they breed in Japan and come here for a holiday
There are quite a few here at the moment but the one in the pic was on his own. ( as far as i know).
Shorty......Canon gear
Canberra
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rawshorty/
Maybe noone told HIM/HER that shorty...
Or else he/she was looking for a bit of holiday romance...
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
Your camera must make some pretty sexy sounds to a snipe!
- soakes
soakes
Olinda, Victoria, Australia
the bird might have been able to see Shorty!!
Peter
Would it be a threat display?
I hope you are right, Tim. It would be great to see little Snipes in OZ.
Well, Soakes. They do sound a bit like a shutter when they fly away after being disturbed
Nah, Peter. I was hidden in the hide with my face behind the camera
You could be right, Woko. After taking a few shots i kept watching him and he didn't do it again but he slowly moved around some reeds out of site, so maybe a girl was hidden from my view.
Shorty......Canon gear
Canberra
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rawshorty/
Practise makes perfect.