Hi All,
Message from Dr Birgita Hansen who is following up on the strange Snipe we caught:
‘I have followed up on the two weird birds we caught. It is still hard to say anything about the bird with the 20 tail feathers as the rest of its measurements were within the normal range for Latham’s snipe
and mostly outside the range for Swinhoe’s snipe. Except of course there has never been a record of Latham’s snipe with 20 tail feathers that I can find. Our friend Mr Yellow Legs had all measurements within the range of Swinhoe’s snipe, except the tail length.
This means that either I measured the tail wrong or that this bird truly is a weird Latham’s. After everything I’ve read I’m leaning toward it being a Swinhoe’s Snipe – that would be amazingly exciting if so! The only way to answer this question now is through
genetic analysis – thank goodness we collected a reasonable blood sample from each bird!’
Will keep you posted.
Cheers Lori
Lori Gould
Program Manager
Woodlands and Wetlands Trust (Jerrabomberra Wetlands)
M: 0439 030 058
PO Box 58 Fyshwick ACT 2609
www.woodlandsandwetlands.org.au
