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Rostratula benghalensis (Linnaeus, 1758)
| Family Name: | Rostratulidae |
| Taxonomic Group: | Vertebrates (Bird) |
| Common Name: | Greater Painted Snipe |
Name
Description
| Description | Eyering white is distinctive. Crown stripe, buffy. Legs yellow. When in flight, take note of buff V on dark back and blackish bar on gold and buff wings. Males are smaller. Head, upper breast and nape brown, streaked with white. Wings golden buff. Females with head, upper breast and nape dark chestnut, bright buffy stripes down back. Wings greenish, barred finely with buff. |
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Ecology, Habitat & Location
| Ecological Notes | An usual species exhibiting role reversal for sexes. In this family, the males are the ones incubating the eggs and caring for the young. The promiscuous female's only parental duty is confined to laying eggs after which it goes off to court and mate with other males. Nest is built on short vegetation usually in the vicinity of water. Found in wet and marshy grassland where it skulks about secretively, looking for small invertebrates which it finds with its rather large bill. Largely nocturnal and very little known. Until the discovery of adults feeding chicks in 1987 at Loyang and 2003 in Punggol, the painted snipe was assumed to be a winter visitor. |
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| Habitats | Freshwater |
| Distribution | Found at Punggol, Serangoon, Loyang, Marine South and Marine East. The species occurs from Africa to Eurasia and Australia. |
Conservation
| Trends & Threats | Habitat loss is the biggest threat to this species. |
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| Scientific Interest & Potential Value | Unlike most birds, in this species, it is the females that are brightly coloured and have the dominant roles in courtship. |
| Conservation Notes | Estimated at between 30 and 50. None of the key sites above are protected in the Singapore Green Plan 2012. It is recommended some of these key sites be gazette as fully protected nature conservation areas. |
Status
| Species Status | Resident |
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| Conservation Status | Rare |
| Singapore Red Data Book Status | Critically Endangered (CR) [2008] |
Photos
References
| References | Davison, G.W.H., Ng, P.K.L. & Ho, H.C (Eds.). 2008. The Singapore Red Data Book (2nd Edition). Singapore: Nature Society (Singapore). 285pp Lim, K.S. & Gardner, D. 1997. Birds: An illustrated field guide to the birds of Singapore. Singapore: Sun Tree Publishing Limited. 226pp Wang, L.K. & Hails, C.J. 2007. An annotated checklist of the birds of Singapore. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology Supplement no. 15. 179pp |
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