Australian Painted-Snipe
Rostratula australis
Family Rostratulidae
Critically Endangered — AUS: Endangered, ACT: Endangered, NSW: Endangered, QLD: Endangered, VIC: Critically Endangered, SA: Endangered, WA: Endangered, NT: Endangered
About
The Australian painted-snipe is a medium-sized, long-billed, distinctively patterned wader.
How to spot it
The head, neck and upper breast is chocolate brown (in the male, dark grey with a buff median stripe on the crown), fading to rufous in the centre of the hindneck and merging to dark, barred grey on the back. There is a cream comma-shaped mark around the eye. A white stripe on the side of the breast and over the shoulders is diagnostic. The upperwing is grey (with buff spots in the male). The lower breast and underbody are white. Males are generally slightly smaller and less bright than females.
Documented on these trails
Found in
- Finke Gorge National Park — Central Australia & the Red Centre, NT hikes