Kingdom Animalia Order Charadriiformes Family Scolopacidae Scientific name Coenocorypha pusilla Rank Species | Phylum Chordata Suborder Scolopaci Genus Coenocorypha Higher classification Austral snipe | |
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Similar Austral snipe, Subantarctic snipe, Snares snipe, Bird, Madagascan snipe | ||
The Chatham Island snipe or Chatham snipe (Coenocorypha pusilla) is a species of wader in the family Scolopacidae. It is endemic to the Chatham Islands of New Zealand, and is only found on a few islands in the south of the Chatham Islands group.
Its natural habitats are temperate forests and temperate grassland.
Chatham Island snipe feed by probing into the ground in search of worms, amphipods, insects and larvae.
Scientific discovery
In 1868 the Chatham Island snipe was collected by naturalist Charles Traill and was sent to ornithologist Walter Buller who described it as a new species of snipe. On an exploratory mission to the islands in 1871, Henry Travers only found the snipe on Mangere Island. Attempts to return snipe to main Chatham Island would be hampered by the presence of introduced mammals and of weka, which are predators of snipe chicks.