Male: Crown, brown spotted with white with broad cinnamon buff mesial stripe. Eyering, buff, Line behind eye, buff. Eye, dark brown. Neck, upper back, grey finely vermiculated with black. Remaining upperparts, including tail and flight feathers, greyish-brown or grey, some parts glossed with bronze, barred with white and buff. Scapulars have cinnamon buff outer edges forming a large V down back, which seems to originate from white bar extending to shoulder from breast, and both together suggest a harness. Wing coverts, bronzy brown barred black and mottled with numerous bars and oval spots of cinnamon buff. Sides of face, chin, buff white, freckled with black. Lower throat, upper breast, olive brown, finely barred with white and brown. Breast, belly, undertail and median and greater underwing coverts, white. Bill, brownish-pink, darker at base. Legs, greyish-olive.
Female: Crown, bronzy brown with cinnamon buff mesial stripe and enclosing a conspicuous white eryering and line behind eye. Lores, entire neck, upper breast, dark chestnut, paler on throat. Chin, whitish. Broad collar surrounding body from back to breast, blackish-brown followed by a broad white bar from shoulder to lower breast, forming a harness. Rest of upperparts, bronzy olive green, barred and vermiculated with black, especially on wings, and mottled with large oval spots on tertails and primaries. A few long white feathers on upper back and has a cinnamon buff V down back, continuing the white bar from breast extending to shoulder. Lower breast, belly, undertail and median and greater underwing coverts, white. Bill, brownish-pink, darker at base. Legs, greyish-olive.
Habitat
Tropical and subtropical wetlands, both freshwater temporary or permanent. Also, extensive swamps and marshes, reedbeds, overgrown rice-fields, inundated or waterlogged grassland and saltmarsh, the muddy margins of pools, freshwater lakes with grassy islets, sewage pools, reservoirs, mudflats overgrown with marsh grass and mangroves, and thickly vegetated banks of slow-flowing rivers.
Vagrant to Afghanistan (NB), Equatorial Guinea (NB), Iran [Islamic Republic of] (NB), Iraq (NB), Jordan (NB), Lesotho (NB), Oman (NB), South Korea (NB), Yemen.
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.
Population
Estimated population is 31,000 - 1,000,000 (2010).
Food
Omnivorous. Insects, including crickets and grasshoppers, snails, earthworms, crustaceans and seeds.
Voice
Female, a long series of 'kot, kot, kot...' and soft, resonating 'whooo' sounds in advertisement during the breeding season, particularly at dusk. May give a loud 'kek' when flushed.
Greater Painted-snipe (Rostratula benghalensis) [XC625686]
by vir joshi from Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro, MIMAROPA, Philippines (song)
Greater Painted-snipe (Rostratula benghalensis) [XC670599]
by id from Bhugaon, near Pune, India (call)
Nest
A shallow cup, in a mound of vegetation, on the ground, concealed amongst thick emergent vegetation in shallow water. Sometimes on a dense mat of floating water-weed.
Subspecies
Rostratula benghalensis (Sibley and Monroe 1990, 1993) was split into Greater Painted-snipe (Rostratula benghalensis) and Australian Painted Snipe (Rostratula australis) following Christidis and Boles (2008).
No subspecies.
Similar Species
Latham's Snipe (Gallinago hardwickii)
Larger. Bill is longer and straighter. Flies very fast with tilting zigzags, dropping quickly to the ground.
Swinhoe's Snipe (Gallinago megala)
Similar size. Bill is longer and straighter.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet