
ON TEE BREFDING OF WILSON'S SNIPE IN 
NEWFOUNDLAND 
leslie M. Tuck 
Canadian Wildlife Service 
St. Johns, Newfoundland 
Introduction 
Wilson's snipe studies in Newfoundland commenced in 1952 
and have continued at intervals as time permitted. A report on 
nocturnal activity and the winnowing of the males as an index 
of breeding populations was published in the 195); issue in this 
series (Special Scientific Report - Wildlife No. 28 pp. 1-50). 
In 1956 the species was studied throughout the breeding 
period, during May on the Avalon Peninsula (Salmonier and 
Colinet ), and during June and parts of July and August on the 
west coast (the Codroy Valley). A total of 122 snipe was cap- 
tured and 73 banded and released. Adults were marked with 
coloured plastic bands and numbered metal bands and nestlings 
marked with metal bands numbered in the order of hatching to 
aid recognition in the field. 
Most of the adults were captured by flushing them into 
silk mist nets from the nest or as they returned to their broods, 
or by luring them into the nets with play-backs of territorial 
calls on a tape recorder. The tape recorder was specially use- 
ful as the birds could be taken without flushing, sometimes with- 
in a minute or two of setting up the recorder. 
Forty-nine birds (32 adults and 17 young) were collected, 
the adults for sex identification and the young for experimental 
rearing. 
The study of Wilson's snipe in Newfoundland will be con- 
tinued, and a comprehensive report published. The present paper 
is an interim revort giving those findings considered most inm- 
portant to other workers. ; 
spring Migration and Courtship 
Ordinarily the Wilson's snipe returns to Newfoundland in 
mid-April. In 1956 the first male was heard winnowing on April 
25 (Cappahayden) and the first arched-wing display was seen on 
Hay 3 (Salmonier). The first arrivals (presumably males) are 
recorded from various parts of the island within a short period. 
The early arrival winnows over a large area, but later restricts 
his movements to one section of the marsh or bog, which becomes 
his territory when his mate arrives. 
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