The snipe is a group of wading birds that have a very long and slender bill, eyes placed high on the head, and cryptic plumage that helps them blend in with their surroundings.
There are 26 different species of snipe, which belong to three genera: Gallinago, Coenocorypha, and Lymnocryptes.
Snipes live in various types of wet and marshy habitats, where they search for invertebrates in the mud with a sewing-machine action of their bill.
They prefer areas with patchy vegetation cover to hide from predators, and avoid places with dense vegetation.
Some of the ecosystems that snipes inhabit include wetlands, estuaries, bogs, ponds, lakes, swamps, and marshes.
They also live in flooded meadows or pastures, and along the banks of rivers and streams.
The distribution of snipes is almost worldwide, except for Antarctica.
The Gallinago snipes are the most widespread, and can be found in North, Central, and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia.
The Lymnocryptes snipe is restricted to Asia and Europe, and the Coenocorypha snipes are endemic to the outlying islands of New Zealand.
Snipes are highly alert and easily startled, and fly in an erratic pattern when disturbed.
This makes them difficult to hunt, and gave rise to the term sniper, which originally meant a skilled hunter of snipes.