Causes of change

The reasons for the decline are unknown.

Further information on causes of change

During the decline in wet meadows in England and Wales between 1982 and 2002, birds were more likely to persist where soils remained soft and wet (Wilson et al. 2005); however the fact that Snipe have continued to decline, despite soil conditions being improved for them at many lowland wetland reserves, suggests that other key aspects of habitat quality, such as prey abundance, are more likely to be driving the decline (Smart et al. 2008). Buchanan et al. ( 2017) found that a varied vegetation composition was important and that abundance increased with higher vegetation height. In Scotland at least, agri-environment schemes can benefit this species (O'Brien & Wilson 2011).

Increases in Snipe numbers at Langholm Moor between 2008 and 2017 were attributed to predator control (Ludwig et al. 2019). However, this study was at a single site only and further research is needed to investigate whether predation may have contributed to the wider decline of this species. In contrast, nest record scheme data, although based on a low sample size, show that daily failure rates at the egg stage appear to have more than halved since 1967 suggesting predation is not a cause of decline, at least at the nest.

Information about conservation actions

This species is now restricted mainly to key sites such as nature reserves where conservation management for waders is undertaken; however, numbers are still declining even where suitable management occurs (Smart et al. 2008) and therefore further research may be required to confirm the reasons for the decline before lasting solutions can be identified.

In the meantime, managing fields to provide wet and soft soil conditions is likely to enable Snipe to continue to persist at existing sites. This can be achieved through decreased grazing pressure and increasing surface flooding, e.g. by raising water levels (Smart et al. 2008). Opening up rush patches by cutting and grazing, digging scrapes and heightening water levels increased breeding snipe numbers at a site in Cumbria (Holton & Allcorn 2006) although it is unclear which of the actions were most important. Snipe breeding in upland Britain depend on unimproved marginal grassland and wet habitats (Hoodless et al. 2010), and hence it is important that such areas are retained or made available as part of the habitat mosaic.

A long-term conservation strategy will need to provide suitable wet habitat across the wider countryside to enable Snipe to recolonise away from key sites. However, a study in Northern Ireland suggested that intensive pastoral farming and ongoing activities such as drainage and peat extraction was likely to further reduce the suitability of open habitats (Henderson et al. 2002). Conservation policies may therefore be required here and elsewhere in the UK to encourage and enable the protection and provision of Snipe habitat.