Whooper Swan	White-tailed Sea-Eagle	Stellar's Sea-Eagle	Hazel Grouse
Japanese Crane	Far Eastern Curlew	Latham's Snipe	Ross's Gull
Blakiston's Fish-Owl	Ural Owl	Black Woodpecker	Lesser Spotted Woodpecker
Eurasian Skylark	Long-tailed Tit	Snow Bunting	Common Redpoll
Tree Sparrow	Eurasian Jay	Northern Raven	Buller's Shearwater*
Swan Goose*	Ashy Minivet*	To Checklist	To Bird Guide Top

Latham's Snipe   Gallinago hardwickii    Ooji-shigi

Latham's Snipe comes to the Okhotsk region as a summer bird and is relatively common. In recent years, however, the riverbanks and other grassy environments that it needs for breeding have been in decline, and it seems that the numbers of this species have also been declining.

Since Latham's Snipe breeds only in a few limited areas, mainly in Hokkaido, there is a danger that the decline in grassy environments and their quality in Hokkaido will quickly lead to the species' extinction.

Latham's Snipe and other shorebirds look alike and are difficult to identify in the field. Since Latham's Snipe is relatively common and you will have many opportunities to observe it at close range, it will probably make it easier for you to identify other shorebirds when you see them.

	Shari, 28 April 2003
	The subdued colors of Latham's Snipe give it vital camouflage to protect it from predators in grassy environments. (Shari, 28 April 2003)
	Latham's Snipe performs a dramatic display flight above its breeding ground while producing a "zubyaaku zubyaaku" call, sometimes shaking its tail feathers while dropping suddenly and noisily screeching "gogogogogo..." (Shari, 29 April 2003)