What : Migratory Bird

What is in news :  Latham’s Snipe shorebird fly non-stop from Japan to Australia twice in a year. The bird takes five days to cover the distance of thousands of kilometres of ocean for their survival

ABOUT LATHAM’S SPINE

• Migratory shorebird
• Similar in size to a blackbird
• Also known as Japanese Snipe
• Scientifically called as Gallinago hardwickii
• Medium-sized, long-billed, migratory snipe in the East Asian–Australasian Flyway
• Identified as a Gallinago snipe by its cryptically-patterned black, brown, buff and white plumage
• Mainly breeds in Hokkaido in northern Japan and in small proportion in Honshu (eastern Russian mainland).
• Breeding habitat of the bird in Asia include alpine moorland, rough pasture, young tree plantations, grasslands and cultivated areas.
• Least Concern species
• In Australia it was earlier hunted as a gamebird but it is now protected
• The bird is listed as “rare” under South Australia’s National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972.