Australian Painted Snipe (Rostratula australis)
Photo: Angela Booth
Description
- The Australian Painted Snipe is a stocky, wading bird that lives in wetlands.
- It grows up to 24-30 cm long, has a wingspan of 50-54 cm, and weighs between 125-130 g.
- It has a white belly, brown eyes, bluish-green legs, and a long pink-orange bill with a darker tip.
- Females have a brown head with a chestnut patch, white mark around its eye, and a greenish back with black and olive bars. It also has a white “harness marking” from its back to its chest.
- Males are smaller than females, with a duller head and neck, stripes of grey brown on its head, and a black band on its chest.
- It hides in wetland plants to feed and uses its long bill to find seeds and small invertebrates to eat.
- It’s nomadic, moving if their habitat dries out, floods or gets too cold.
- It breeds from December to May in northern Australia, and October to December in southern Australia.
- Males care for the nest, incubate eggs, and take care of its chicks.
Find out more about the Australian Painted Snipe on Canberra NatureMapr.
Where to find them
The Australian Painted Snipe only lives in Australia and has been seen in wetlands across all states and territories. It’s commonly found in eastern Australia in areas, including:
- the Murray-Darling Basin
- Queensland’s Channel Country
- South Australia
- Victoria.
The Australian Painted Sniper prefers shallow freshwater wetlands that include:
- lakes
- swamps
- dams
- rice fields
- sewage farms with good cover of grasses, rushes and reeds
- waterlogged grasslands.
Conservation threats
The main threat to the Australian Painted Snipe is loss and damage to wetlands. Other threats include:
- draining of wetlands where they breed, especially the Murray-Darling Basin
- water being diverted for farming or reservoirs
- poor water quality caused by silt and pollution
- predators such as foxes or feral cats
- chemicals such as herbicides and insecticides near wetlands
- grazing and frequent burning of wetlands
- invasive weeds and plants in wetlands
- lack of understanding about how the species breeds.
Conservation status
- International Endangered (International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List).
- National Endangered (Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999).
- Australian Capital Territory Endangered (Nature Conservation Act 2014).
Conservation actions
The ACT is not considered a main area for the Australian Painted Snipe since the birds are only occasional visitors. However, some places where they’ve been seen are already protected for other birds facing similar threats. Conservation actions to improve its habitat include to:
- control feral predators around wetland areas
- manage and remove invasive weeds in wetlands.