The common snipe is a master of camouflage and famous for its drumming display flight, but its welfare has been severely compromised by the drainage of the wet grasslands and bogs it depends on for feeding and breeding.
Snipe welfare is directly linked to soil moisture and invertebrate availability. Drainage of wet grassland and peatland eliminates the soft ground in which they can probe. Hard frosts prevent access to earthworms, forcing birds to move or starve. The loss of traditionally managed water meadows and rough pasture has removed the core of UK breeding habitat. Winter shooting of snipe is legal in the UK, raising welfare concerns about wounding rates given the difficulty of shooting fast, jinking birds.