JAPANESE SNIPE

• Urban development continues to threaten Latham’s Snipe habitats as several snipe sites in eastern Australia are at risk from housing developments and large infrastructure projects.
• Latham’s Snipe was formerly known as the Japanese Snipe.

Important points:

• Latham’s Snipe is the largest snipe in Australia, with cryptic, mainly brown, plumage.
• Their exceptional eyesight helps them constantly scan for dangers at night, when they forage for food in open wet and muddy areas.
• Breeds in northern Japan and parts of eastern Russia during May-July and spends the non-breeding season (September to March) along Australia’s eastern coast.
• Like other migratory shorebirds, it has incredible endurance, undertaking a non-stop, over-ocean flight between its breeding and non-breeding grounds.
• Hunting and wetland loss during the 20th century have contributed to a decline in Latham’s Snipe in south-eastern Australia.
• The signing of the Japan Australia Migratory Bird Agreement in 1981 has stopped snipe hunting in both countries to some extent.

SOURCE: THE HINDU,THE ECONOMIC TIMES,MINT