NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Common Snipe
Gallinago gallinago (Linnaeus, 1758)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The common snipe (Gallinago gallinago, formerly also known as Gallinago cælestis) is a small, stocky wader native to the Old World, where it breeds in marshes, bogs, tundra and wet meadows. It is usually shy and well-camouflaged, foraging in soft mud mainly for insects and earthworms but also some plant material. During courtship, males perform a "winnowing" display; flying high in circles and then taking shallow dives to produce a "drumming" sound by vibrating the tail feathers.
Wikipedia contributors, Common snipe; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T02:20:46.675925+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Gallinago gallinago (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Name authority
- (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Common name
- Common Snipe
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Scolopacidae
- Genus
- Gallinago
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classAves
- orderCharadriiformes
- familyScolopacidae Rafinesque, 1815
- genusGallinago Brisson, 1760
- speciesGallinago gallinago (Linnaeus, 1758)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Gallinago. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Imperial SnipeGallinago imperialis P. L. Sclater & Salvin, 1869 | ScolopacidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Madagascar SnipeGallinago macrodactyla Bonaparte, 1839 | ScolopacidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Swinhoe's SnipeGallinago megala Swinhoe, 1861 | ScolopacidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Wood SnipeGallinago nemoricola Hodgson, 1836 | ScolopacidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| African SnipeGallinago nigripennis Bonaparte, 1839 | ScolopacidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Noble SnipeGallinago nobilis P. L. Sclater, 1856 | ScolopacidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Pantanal SnipeGallinago paraguaiae (Vieillot, 1816) | ScolopacidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Solitary SnipeGallinago solitaria Hodgson, 1831 | ScolopacidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Great SnipeGallinago media (Latham, 1787) | ScolopacidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Magellanic SnipeGallinago magellanica (P. P. King, 1828) | ScolopacidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Puna SnipeGallinago andina Taczanowski, 1875 | ScolopacidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Wilson's SnipeGallinago delicata (Ord, 1825) | ScolopacidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Capella gallinago (Linnaeus, 1758) (Linnaeus, 1758) | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Europe & Northern Asia (excluding China)
North America
Southern Asia
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=176700 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3F6V9. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.