Latham’s Snipe
Photo: Jason Girvan · CC BY-SA 3.0

Sandpipers and Allies

Latham’s Snipe

Gallinago hardwickii

NTNear Threatened
Family
Sandpipers and Allies (Scolopacidae)
Order
Charadriiformes

Overview

Latham's snipe (Gallinago hardwickii), also Japanese snipe is a medium-sized, long-billed, migratory snipe of the East Asian–Australasian Flyway. The origin of the bird's common name is not clear. John Latham was a well-known English physician and ornithologist in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and had a great interest in Australasian birds. However, he had no apparent connection with the snipe named after him.

Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Range and habitat

Breeds meadows and fields of eastern Amurland and southern Sakhalin (southeastern Russia) southward through Honshu (central Japan); winters freshwater wetlands of eastern Australia including Tasmania.

Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.

Sources and further reading

Last updated September 29, 2026.