Swinhoe's snipe
Gallinago megala Swinhoe, 1861
The swinhoe's snipe (Gallinago megala) is a species in the family Scolopacidae, order Charadriiformes. Recorded adults weigh 121 g to 140 g. Source checklists list it for 1 country: Australia. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
Quick facts about the swinhoe's snipe
- Weight
- 121 g – 140 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 38 cm – 50 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- wetlandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 19 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 4src for Young per litter or clutch
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- 1 countrysrc for Countries on record
How big is the swinhoe's snipe?
Where does the swinhoe's snipe live?
Countries where Catalogue of Life checklists list the species. Many checklists carry no country data, so the list is often incomplete. It is not a range map.
The swinhoe's snipe is listed for 1 country.
- Listed
- Not listed
The same countries as a list
Why a country list is not a range map
Listed by: ITIS (scope: global), through the Catalogue of Life.
What is the swinhoe's snipe?
Swinhoe's snipe (Gallinago megala), also known as forest snipe or Chinese snipe, is a medium-sized (length 27–29 cm, wingspan 38–44 cm, weight 120 gm), long-billed, migratory wader.
The common name commemorates the British naturalist Robert Swinhoe who first described the species in 1861.
From the Wikipedia article “Swinhoe's snipe” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Swinhoe%27s_snipe&oldid=1338829419), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the swinhoe's snipe endangered?
The swinhoe's snipe is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.
How is the swinhoe's snipe classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderCharadriiformes
- familyScolopacidae
- genusGallinago
- SpeciesGallinago megala Swinhoe, 1861
Synonyms Capella megala, Gallinago australis, Gallinago australis oweni, Gallinago dubia
Other names and names in other languages (56)
- Swinhoe´s snipeEnglish
- شنقب سوينهوArabic
- Горска бекасинаBulgarian
- Gioc'h SwinhoeBreton
- becadell de SwinhoeCatalan
- bekasina lesníCzech
- gïach SwinhoeWelsh
- TajgabekkasinDanish
- Tajga-bekkasinDanish
- WaldbekassineGerman
- tajga galinagoEsperanto
- Bajkala galinagoEsperanto
- Agachadiza del BaikalSpanish
- taiganeppEstonian
- پاشلک چینیPersian
- siperiankurppaFinnish
- Bécassine de SwinhoeFrench
- Naoscach meigeálaIrish
- חרטומית סיביריתHebrew
- bajkalska šljukaCroatian
- tajgasárszalonkaHungarian
- Swinhoe-sárszalonkaHungarian
- Berkik rawaIndonesian
- HoltasnípaIcelandic
- Beccacino di SwinhoeItalian
- Beccaccino di SwinhoeItalian
- チュウジシギJapanese
- Орман маңқыKazakh
- Орман маңқысыKazakh
- 꺅도요사촌Korean
- sibirinis perkūno oželisLithuanian
- taigas mērkaziņaLatvian
- സ്വിൻഹൊ ചുണ്ടൻകാടMalayalam
- ചൈനീസ് ചുണ്ടൻ കാടപ്പക്ഷിMalayalam
- Burung Berkek TirokMalay
- Siberische SnipDutch
- bajkalbekkasinNorwegian
- bekas leśnyPolish
- narceja-do-baicalPortuguese
- Narceja de SwinhoePortuguese
- narceja-de-swinhoePortuguese
- Лесной дупельRussian
- SibirjjámeahkástatNorthern Sami
- močiarnica bledáSlovak
- jenisejska kozicaSlovenian
- Svinhouova šljukaSerbian
- tajgabeckasinSwedish
- taigabeckasinSwedish
- นกปากซ่อมสวินโฮThai
- Baykal SuçulluğuTurkish
- баранець лісовийUkrainian
- 中田鷸Chinese
- 中地鷸Chinese
- 中地鷸〔中田鷸，大沙錐〕Chinese
- 大沙錐Chinese
- 大沙锥Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the swinhoe's snipe
Other species in the same genus Gallinago.
Common snipe
Gallinago gallinago
Great snipe
Gallinago media
Pin-tailed snipe
Gallinago stenura
Solitary snipe
Gallinago solitaria
Wilson's snipe
Gallinago delicata
Wood snipe
Gallinago nemoricola
CompareSwinhoe's snipe vs Common snipeSwinhoe's snipe vs Great snipeSwinhoe's snipe vs Pin-tailed snipeSwinhoe's snipe vs Solitary snipe
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the swinhoe's snipe?
An adult swinhoe's snipe weighs 121 g – 140 g and has a wingspan of 38 cm – 50 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Where does the swinhoe's snipe live?
Catalogue of Life checklists list the swinhoe's snipe for 1 country: Australia. Checklist coverage is uneven, so the true range may be wider.
Is the swinhoe's snipe endangered?
The swinhoe's snipe is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
What kind of animal is the swinhoe's snipe?
The swinhoe's snipe (Gallinago megala) belongs to the family Scolopacidae in the order Charadriiformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Swinhoe's snipe (Gallinago megala). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/swinhoes-snipe
“Swinhoe's snipe (Gallinago megala).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/swinhoes-snipe.
@misc{swinhoes_snipe_2026,
title = {Swinhoe's snipe (Gallinago megala)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/swinhoes-snipe},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}