Wood Snipe

The wood snipe is a dark snipe 28–32cm long with a short, broad-based bill. It breeds in the Himalayas of northern India, Nepal, Bhutan and southern China, in alpine meadows above 3,000m in the May–July breeding season, nesting on boulders near rhododendron shrubs, and moves to lower altitudes in winter. It is reportedly well known to Chauri herders in the Himalayas (Wikipedia, general species account).

A 2021 study in Sichuan province during the breeding season found that the birds preferred the lower parts (3,378–3,624m) of the alpine meadow with intermediate soil moisture, and preferred to forage at sites with higher soil fauna abundance. It eats invertebrates, primarily worms, and widespread loss of wetland habitat in its breeding and wintering grounds has been a major reason for its decline (Wikipedia, general species account).