Snares snipe

The Snares snipe (Coenocorypha huegeli), also known as the Snares Island snipe, or tutukiwi in Māori, is a species of bird in the sandpiper family, Scolopacidae.

The snipe is a small, chunky, and cryptically patterned wader with bars, stripes, and spots in shades of brown ranging from buffy-white to nearly black. It has longitudinal stripes on the face and crown. The bird possesses a long bill, short neck, and tail. Its outer tail feathers are narrow and stiffened, which is a modification enabling the distinctive roaring sound of the nocturnal hakawai aerial display.

The snipe's sexes exhibit similar appearances, with females being slightly larger than males, weighing about 116 g compared to males' 101 g. The bill length of females is around 57 mm, while males have a length of 55 mm. Females have olive-colored legs instead of yellow, and their primary coverts have mottling on the inner edges, unlike males who lack such markings. Males also possess more strongly contrasting dorsal markings. Juveniles display duller coloration. While no single characteristic allows for definitive sexing of snipes, researchers on the Snares have identified that a combination of traits enables the assignment of birds to age and sex classes. Walter Oliver, in his book "New Zealand Birds" (1955), states, "The Snares Island snipe is distinguished by the under surface being barred all over which is not the case with any other subspecies. The general color also is more reddish than in the others."