CreatureData

Wood snipe

Gallinago nemoricola Hodgson, 1836

VUVulnerablebirds

The wood snipe (Gallinago nemoricola) is a species in the family Scolopacidae, order Charadriiformes. Recorded adults weigh 167.7 g to 170 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Vulnerable.

Wood snipe (Gallinago nemoricola)
Photo: S.Herbert, published in Hume & Marshall · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the wood snipe

Weight
167.7 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Wingspan
46 cmsrc for Wingspan
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Aquatic predatorsrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
Not recorded
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Migratorysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

How big is the wood snipe?

WOOD SNIPE · WINGSPAN 46 CMADULT HUMAN · HEIGHT 1.7 M
At 46 cm, the recorded maximum wingspan of the wood snipe is about 27% of the height of an adult human (1.7 m, a fixed reference used for scale).

Where does the wood snipe live?

Not recorded

What is the wood snipe?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

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.

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. 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.

The species has been classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN, with a population of mature birds between 2,500 and 10,000 as of 2025. The widespread loss of wetlands habitats in its breeding and wintering grounds has been a major reason for its decline. It has been recorded in some protected areas, including Langtang and Sagarmatha National Parks in Nepal.

It eats invertebrates, primarily worms. Its diet also includes seeds and larvae found in Chauri dung.

From the Wikipedia article “Wood snipe” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wood_snipe&oldid=1357311577), 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 wood snipe endangered?

The wood snipe is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species.

How is the wood snipe classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderCharadriiformes
  5. familyScolopacidae
  6. genusGallinago
  7. SpeciesGallinago nemoricola Hodgson, 1836

Synonyms Capella nemoricola, Nemoricola nepalensis

Other names and names in other languages (38)
  • شنقب الغياضArabic
  • Gioc'h-koadBreton
  • becadell de l'HimàlaiaCatalan
  • bekasina himálajskáCzech
  • gïach coedWelsh
  • SkovbekkasinDanish
  • NepalbekassineGerman
  • Nepal-BekassineGerman
  • himalaja galinagoEsperanto
  • Agachadiza del HimalayaSpanish
  • himaalaja neppEstonian
  • پاشلک جنگلیPersian
  • himalajankurppaFinnish
  • Bécassine des boisFrench
  • Naoscach choilleIrish
  • himalajska šljukaCroatian
  • nepáli sárszalonkaHungarian
  • Beccacino dei boschiItalian
  • Beccaccino boschereccioItalian
  • モリジシギJapanese
  • miškinis perkūno oželisLithuanian
  • Himalaju mērkaziņaLatvian
  • കാട്ടുചുണ്ടൻകാടMalayalam
  • वन चाहाNepali
  • BossnipDutch
  • himalayabekkasinNorwegian
  • bekas himalajskiPolish
  • لکڑی سنائپWestern Panjabi
  • narceja-do-bosquePortuguese
  • Малайский дупельRussian
  • Гималайский дупельRussian
  • močiarnica horskáSlovak
  • skogsbeckasinSwedish
  • นกปากซ่อมพงThai
  • Orman SuçulluğuTurkish
  • баранець гімалайськийUkrainian
  • 林沙錐Chinese
  • 林沙锥Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the wood snipe

Other species in the same genus Gallinago.

LC, Least Concern
Common snipe (Gallinago gallinago)

Common snipe

Gallinago gallinago

Scolopacidae

NT, Near Threatened
Great snipe (Gallinago media)

Great snipe

Gallinago media

Scolopacidae

CompareWood snipe vs Common snipeWood snipe vs Great snipeWood snipe vs Pin-tailed snipeWood snipe vs Solitary snipe

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the wood snipe?

An adult wood snipe weighs 167.7 g and has a wingspan of 46 cm, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the wood snipe endangered?

The wood snipe is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

What kind of animal is the wood snipe?

The wood snipe (Gallinago nemoricola) 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.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Wood snipe (Gallinago nemoricola). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/wood-snipe

MLA

“Wood snipe (Gallinago nemoricola).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/wood-snipe.

BibTeX
@misc{wood_snipe_2026,
  title = {Wood snipe (Gallinago nemoricola)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/wood-snipe},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}