The Fuegian snipe (Gallinago stricklandii) also known as the cordilleran snipe, is a small stocky wader. It breeds in south-central Chile and Argentina south to Tierra del Fuego. It is mainly sedentary, but the Tierra del Fuego population winters in mainland Chile. It is sporadically recorded in the Falkland Islands, where it has reputedly bred. However, there is only one recent record and the historical documentation of breeding is a lost specimen of questionable identity. The occurrences in these islands could therefore be due to either a tiny breeding population or vagrancy from the mainland. This species is common in Tierra del Fuego and decreasingly so farther north in its range. It is sometimes considered conspecific with Andean snipe, Gallinago jamesoni. The scientific name of the Fuegian snipe commemorates the English geologist, ornithologist and systematist, Hugh Edwin Strickland. == Description == This 30–32 cm long snipe has a stocky body and relatively short legs for a wader. Its upperparts, head and neck are streaked and patterned with dark brown and buff, and gold edges to the feathers form lines down its back, which are not as sharply defined as in most snipe species.. The belly is buff with brown barring…
