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The giant snipe (''Gallinago undulata'') is a stocky wader. It breeds in South America. The nominate subspecies ''G. u. undulata'' occurs in two distinct areas, one in Colombia, and the other from Venezuela through Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana to extreme north-eastern Brazil. The southern subspecies ''G. u. gigantea'' is found in eastern Bolivia, eastern Paraguay and south-east Brazil, and probably also in Uruguay and north-eastern Argentina. It occurs in tall vegetation in swamps and flooded grasslands, and occasionally in dry savannah. It ranges from the lowlands up to 2,200 m altitude. It seems to arrive in some areas after rain, but its seasonal movements are very poorly understood. ==Description== This is the largest snipe at 40–43.5 cm in length. ''G. u. gigantea'', as its name suggests, is larger than the nominate subspecies with little overlap in size; for example, its bill length is usually more than 12.0 cm, whereas ''G. u. undulata'' is usually less than 11.5 cm. The giant snipe has a stocky body and relatively short legs for a wader. It has broad rounded wings like a woodcock and a very long bill. Its upperparts, head and neck are streaked and patterned with black and brown, and chestnut edges to the feathers form distinct lines down its back. The belly is white with brown barring on the flanks. The flight feathers are barred, a feature unique to this snipe. The horn-coloured bill is very long and straight. The legs and feet are greyish-green. No plumage differences related to age or sex are known, but in other snipe the sexes are similar and immature birds differ only in showing pale fringes on the wing coverts. The giant snipe has a ''kek-kek'' call when flushed, and a rasping trisyllabic call is given in its nocturnal display flight. Giant snipe can be distinguished from sympatric common and Magellan snipe by its huge size and rounded wings. The other large species, Andean, Fuegian and imperial snipe, are upland species which lack the well-defined upperpart markings and white belly shown by giant snipe. Noble snipe is more similar to giant, but obviously smaller-bodied. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Giant snipe」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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