About this species
The Wood Snipe (Gallinago nemoricola) is a large migratory snipe of montane wetlands and grasslands in the Himalaya and adjoining regions. Within the Central Asian Flyway (CAF), it breeds in the high-altitude mountains of the Himalayas, southern Tibet, and western China, migrating or moving altitudinally to winter in the foothills and lowlands of the Indian subcontinent, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and parts of Southeast Asia. The species breeds in alpine meadows, shrublands, and boulder-strewn slopes near streams, while wintering in marshes, swampy grasslands, forest clearings, and riparian habitats. It feeds primarily on earthworms, aquatic insects, insect larvae, and seeds by probing soft soils and wet ground. Globally classified as Vulnerable, the species is threatened by the loss and degradation of wintering wetlands and grasslands, deforestation, overgrazing, human disturbance, and localized hunting, highlighting the need to conserve both its montane breeding habitats and lowland wintering areas.
