FIRST RECORD OF SOLITARY SNIPE FOR NORTH AMERICA ON SAINT PAUL ISLAND, ALASKA 
Figure 2. Even at a distance, the Solitary Snipe on Saint Paul Island, Alaska (10 Septem- 
ber 2008) was quite distinctive in appearance, in this photograph, the impression of an 
overall dark body color is produced by heavy markings on the chest and flanks and by 
reddish-brovm wings that show broad pale edgings in the lower scapulars (but not the 
very wide golden "back braces" shown by Wood Snipe). The pale tertials are finely barred 
in black. The bird's bulkiness and its very long bill — more than half its body length — are 
also impressive at any distance. Photograph by Scott Schuette. 
the island’s largest Northern Fur Seal (Cal- 
lorhinus ursims) rookery is at the base of 
Hutchinson Hill, an area thus strictly off lim- 
its during the seals’ breeding season. By lining 
up and walking the shorter grass and sedge 
patch on the top of the hill, the group was 
able to flush the snipe again. By then. Porter 
and Schuette had approached the base of the 
hill, and Porter watched it leave the hill and 
fly back down the road, where it landed in a 
stretch of grass on the roadbed. It was relo- 
cated partially hidden in the grasses, where 
photographs were obtained, including digi- 
scoped images (Figures 1, 2; compare Figure 
3). At this point, three things were clear: it 
was a snipe; it was a species new for the con- 
tinent; and none of the observers knew what 
species it was. When approached a third time, 
the snipe flushed back into the quarry and 
then over the hill. Diligent searching until 
dark and on the next day failed to relocate it. 
Description and identification 
The Saint Paul snipe’s heavy body, rounded 
wings, and long, straight bill produced an ini- 
tial impression of a large snipe or woodcock. 
Both Wilson’s Snipe (G. delicata) and Com- 
mon Snipe (G. gallinago) occur annually on 
the island, but at no point was this individual 
reminiscent of either species. Its overall color 
was quite dark, with brown/red tones (rather 
than the buff/gold of the expected species) 
across the mantle and a ginger/brown cast to 
the breast. Its large size, exceedingly long bill, 
pot-bellied shape, narrow white back braces, 
heavily barred tertials, and single continuous 
eyeline bordered by pale stripes were ob- 
served clearly and noted in 
the held. Although views of 
the bird in flight were rela- 
tively brief, its wings showed 
no white trailing edge and 
indeed no striking upper- 
wing pattern of any sort. The 
bird did not call during the 
encounter. 
From the hrst moments of 
the encounter, the Saint Paul 
snipe’s size, coloration, and 
distinctive facial pattern im- 
mediately set it apart from 
both Common and Wilson’s 
Snipe (see e.g., Hayman et 
al. 1986, Rosair and Cot- 
tridge 1995, O’Brien et al. 
2006). Other species easily 
eliminated from considera- 
tion in the held included the 
tiny Jack Snipe (Lym- 
nocryptes minimus), ruled 
out by size, shape, bill 
length, and plumage, and Pin-tailed Snipe 
(G. stenura), which is similar in plumage and 
proportions to Wilson’s and Common Snipe 
(Rosair and Cottridge 1995, Leader and 
Carey 2003, Paulson 2005, Dunn and Alder- 
fer 2006). There are several species of larger 
Asian snipe that require careful consideration 
to distinguish: Latham’s, also 
called Japanese (G. Iwrd- 
wickii), Swinhoe’s (G. megala), 
Wood (G. ncmoricola), Great 
(G. media), and Solitary (G. 
solitaria). Published descrip- 
tions and photographs indi- 
cate that Swinhoe’s and Lath- 
am’s (Figure 4) are similar in 
overall color and facial pattern 
to the medium-sized snipe 
species and thus also differed 
from the Saint Paul snipe in 
some of the same features as 
Common and Wilson’s (Rosair 
and Cottridge 1995, Hayman 
et al. 1986, del Hoyo et al. 
1996, Shimba 2008). The Saint 
Paul bird differed from Wood 
Snipe in its weak back braces, 
lack of a thick, flesh-colored 
bill base, and facial pattern, with its single 
rather than split eyeline (Rosair and Cot- 
tridge 1995, Bhushan et al. 1993). Great 
Snipe shows bolder buffy bands across the 
face, a proportionally shorter bill, and very 
different upperwing pattern from the Saint 
Paul snipe, with white tips to median and 
greater coverts and white-tipped secondaries 
and inner primaries (Rosair and Cottridge 
1995, Mullarney et al. 1999). All African and 
South American snipe species, considerably 
less likely to appear as vagrants in Alaska, 
can all be ruled out by features of plumage 
and/or structure and all Old World wood- 
cocks by lack of black banding on the nape 
and crown (Rosair and Cottridge 1995, 
Bhushan et al. 1993, del Hoyo et al. 1996, 
Shimba 2008), as well as by the astonishing- 
ly long bill of the Saint Paul bird. 
An extensive review of published and Inter- 
net-posted photographs of Asian and North 
American snipe species revealed that only Soli- 
tary shows a single continuous dark eyeline 
from the base of the bill to the nape. The other 
species show a variably thin dark line through 
the lores that either expands into two parallel 
lines behind the eye or broadens into a dark 
streak. This face pattern is clearly visible in the 
photographs (Figures 1, 2). The reddish tones 
to the wing, thin white braces on the back, 
heavy-chested appearance, and long bill also 
support the identification as Solitary Snipe. 
There are two subspecies of Solitary Snipe: 
nominate solitaria, which breeds in the cen- 
tral Palearctic and winters south to India and 
the Himalayan foothills, and japonica, which 
breeds in the southeastern Palearctic, into 
portions of Kamchatka Peninsula, and win- 
ters largely in Japan. Japonica is characterized 
as more rufous above, with narrower pale 
back braces, a proportionally longer bill than 
the nominate subspecies, and an overall more 
uniformly colored appearance (Prater et al. 
1977). The Saint Paul snipe thus appears typ- 
ical of the more expected japonica subspecies, 
but we have not been able to make compar- 
isons of specimens to confirm this directly, 
and indeed it may not be possible to separate 
these similar subspecies in the field. 
Figure 3. This Solitary Snipe, photographed 10 January 2006 at the National Arbore- 
tum in Seoul, South Korea, shows the very long bill, heavy black line extending from 
the base of the bill through the eye to the nape, narrow "back braces," dark dorsum 
with strongly rufous tones, ginger wash to the spotted/barred breast, and strong bar- 
ring on the sides typical of this distinctive species. Photograph by Robert Newlin. 
VOLUME 63 (2009) • NUMBER 1 
179 
