The feeding economy and growth of Common Snipe chicks. Abstract of paper given at the 6th International Workshop on the Ecology of Shorebirds, Cardiff 1983.

Abstract

Nesting phenology and the diet, growth and survival of Snipe chicks were studied in four areas of the seasonally flooded Cambridgeshire washlands. Nesting started in mid-April or up to two months later if flooding prevented it. Egg laying ceased earlier at sites with good drainage, where the ground became difficult for Snipe to probe with their bills, than at poorly drained sites. Some egg-laying occurred up to mid-July. Snipe feed by probing soft soil for earthworms and dipteran larvae. At hatching broods are divided between the parents into two sub-broods of two chicks each which are cared for independently. Chicks are fed by the adults on worms and larvae. Mean weight gain rates of sub-broods of Snipe chicks were not related to egg size but to the density of soil invertebrates (mainly earthworms). Within sub-broods the two chicks often grew at markedly different rates and one chick usually died in the first week of life. The chick which was heavier at hatching tended to grow faster than its sibling and was more likely to survive. Hatching order and bill size at hatching had no effect.