Jack Snipe
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Lymnocryptes minimus
Local Winter visitors in Britain of 100,000 birds between October-March, mainly Southern England & a few in Northern England.
Breeds in Scandinavia.
Also winters in Western & Southern Europe.
The body is mottled brown on top and pale underneath.
They have a dark stripe through the eye.
The wings are pointed and narrow, and yellow back stripes are visible in flight.
When seen, the distinctive bobbing movement, as if the bird is on springs, has an almost hypnotic quality.
The head pattern differs from the Common Snipe and other species in the genus Gallinago, in that there is no central crown-stripe; instead, there are two pale lateral crown-stripes, which are separated from the supercilium by an area of dark plumage.