Australian Painted-snipe

The Australian painted-snipe (Rostratula australis) is a medium-sized, long-billed, distinctively patterned wader. == Taxonomy == The distinctiveness of the Australian painted-snipe was recognised by John Gould in 1838 when he described and named it Rostratula australis. However, it was subsequently lumped with the greater painted-snipe Rostratula benghalensis in 1934. More recently it has been shown that the differences between these taxa warrant recognition at the species level. Compared with the greater painted-snipe, the Australian painted-snipe: has a longer wing, shorter bill and shorter tarsus has a chocolate brown, rather than rufous, head and neck in the female has round, rather than flat and visually barred, spots on the tail (female) and upper wing-coverts (male) == Description == The head, neck and upper breast is chocolate brown (in the male, dark grey with a buff median stripe on the crown), fading to rufous in the centre of the hindneck and merging to dark, barred grey on the back. There is a cream comma-shaped mark around the eye. A white stripe on the side of the breast and over the shoulders is diagnostic. The upperwing is grey (with buff spots in the male). The lower breast and underbody are white. Males are…