Greater Painted-snipe ( Rostratula benghalensis, family: Rostratulidae)

Birds & Birding in the Kruger National Park South Africa. In Roberts 6 this bird was called Painted Snipe

greater painted snipe kruger national park birds The Greater Painted-snipe (Latin name Rostratula benghalensis) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 242 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 380 also a picture of the Greater Painted-snipe on page 305. The Greater Painted-snipe belongs to the family of birds classified as Rostratulidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Greater Painted-snipe is also known by these other names: Painted Snipe.

In the previous edition of Roberts (ie 6th edition) the Greater Painted-snipe was called the Painted Snipe

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Greater Painted-snipe is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

In terms of distribution of the Greater Painted-snipe in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Greater Painted-snipe : see above distribution map.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

The Greater Painted-snipe is a bird about the same size as a starling. The height of the Greater Painted-snipe is about 26 cms and its weight is about 115 gms

The male and female Greater Painted-snipe have the same plumage and colours

  • Head is brown.
  • Eye is brown.
  • Bill is greenish black.
  • Throat is grey, white.
  • Back is brown.
  • Legs are blue, green.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Greater Painted-snipe feeds on the ground and in foliage mainly

Invertebrates

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Greater Painted-snipe takes on more than a single mate (it is bigamous).

The nesting habit of Greater Painted-snipe is to create the nest on the ground. The bird lays eggs which are white in colour and number between 2 to 5

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Greater Painted-snipe are: wetlands and riverine areas

You will not see Greater Painted-snipe in flocks. The bird prefers to act singly or in pairs.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Unknown

Zulu ... Unknown

Afrikaans ...Goudsnip

German ... Goldschnepfe

Portuguese ... Narceja-pintada

French ... Rhynche peinte

Dutch ... Goudsnip

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 242

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za