Drumming (snipe)

Drumming (also called bleating or winnowing) is a sound produced by snipe as part of their courtship display flights. The sound is produced mechanically (rather than vocally) by the vibration of the outer tail feathers when flying in a downwards, swooping motion. The drumming display is usually crepuscular, though it can also be heard at any point throughout the breeding season, as well as sporadically during their migration period. Drumming is commonly heard within the context of a mating display, but it can also be displayed as means of distraction when conspecific intruders or potential predators are in the area — this can benefit male snipe in attracting a female mate. The weather can also have an impact on the acoustic properties of drumming — more humid weather will not allow the sound to carry as far and will create a deeper tone.

In looking at drumming in the different genera of snipes, the genus Gallinago (synonym Capella) is the most widely researched. This genus comprises 18 species; however, the two snipe that are the most prominent in research into this group are the common snipe (Gallinago gallinago) in Eurasia and the Wilson's snipe (Gallinago delicata) in North America. Despite being quite similar in their appearance, the common snipe and the Wilson's snipe have several morphological differences that allow for there to be differences in their drumming behaviour; the most obvious difference being that common snipe has seven pairs of rectrices (tail feathers) compared to eight pairs in the Wilson's snipe. The African snipe and Madagascar snipe both have similar drumming to the common snipe, while the pin-tailed snipe from Asia, with 14 pairs of tail feathers (of which the outer seven on each side very slender), produces a highly distinct buzzing sound. Swinhoe's snipe, with usually ten pairs of tail feathers, also produces a distinct drum. Conversely, some species in the genus, such as the great snipe, do not drum at all.

When the discovery was made that this mysterious drumming sound was produced by snipe, there were many naturalists that wanted to learn how the sound was actually being produced, which led to a number of experimental studies. The first of many was conducted in the year 1830 by a German scientist Johann Friedrich Naumann who proposed that the sound was being produced by the wings. A few years later after reading Naumann's proposal, the scientist Friedrich Wilhelm Meves conducted studies that looked in-depth at the tail feathers of snipe. It was eventually confirmed through Meve's experiments that the drumming sound was produced by the tail feathers.