About Gallinago nigripennis Bonaparte, 1839
This species of snipe, Gallinago nigripennis, is 30–32 cm (12–13 in) long. As a wader, it has a stocky body and relatively short legs. Its upperparts, head, and neck are streaked and patterned with bold dark brown stripes; the gold edges of its feathers form lines running down its back. The belly is white, with some brown barring on the flanks that never extends to the belly. Its very long, straight bill is pinkish-brown and fairly robust. The legs and feet range in color from yellowish-olive to greenish-grey. Males and females are similar in appearance. Immature birds differ only by having pale fringes on the wing coverts. When taking off, this snipe produces a hleep call; during the breeding season, it has a far-carrying kip call. In flight, it displays white trailing edges on the wings and white tail corners. Within its range, this African snipe can only be confused with three migratory snipe species: the common snipe, pin-tailed snipe, and great snipe. The great snipe is noticeably larger, darker, and has a relatively shorter bill. The pin-tailed snipe lacks white trailing wing edges and has very little white on its tail corners. The common snipe is very similar to the African snipe, though the African species is darker on its upperparts and has a longer bill; identifying the two when they are on the ground is very difficult. In flight, the African snipe has slower, more fluttering flight on more rounded wings, zig-zags less when flushed, and often shows noticeably more extensive white in the tail.
