Wilson's Snipe

medium-sized, pudgy shorebirds with short, stocky legs. The bill is straight and very long (several times the length of the head). The head is rounded and the tail is short.

These birds are intricately patterned in buff and brown stripes and bars. The dark head has prominent buffy to whitish stripes. The dark back has three long buffy streaks, one running down each edge, one down the center. The buff chest is streaked and spotted with brown; the sides are heavily barred with black. In flight, the wings are dark above and below.