Wilson’s snipe

Gallinago delicata

Unlike the mythical creatures of midnight practical jokes, snipe really do exist in Kansas.

While a few are around now, thousands of the 10-inch birds will migrate into the state over the next several months. They’ll stop to feed up on worms and other invertebrates probed from mud and muck with their long bills.

Perfect snipe habitat is shallow water in dense vegetation. Flood smartweed patches at places like Cheyenne Bottoms or the McPherson Valley Wetlands often hold the birds. Roadside ditches holding water or flooded grasslands can, too.

Snipe are one of only a few species of shorebirds that can be hunted in Kansas. Flushing from the dense, flooded vegetation is one of the challenges. Most who’ve hunted snipe agree they have the most erratic flight of any gamebird in Kansas, suddenly changing direction for no apparent reason.

This story was originally published August 19, 2016 at 11:07 AM with the headline "Wilson’s snipe."