| Summary: | Latham’s Snipe (Японский бекас) Gallinago hardwickii was historically considered to breed mostly in Japan with a small proportion of breeding records in Russia. Since the 1950s, the species has been expanding its range northward and the current distribution of snipe encompasses most of the island of Sakhalin. At the same time, the species has experienced a breeding range contraction in Japan. During May 2019, opportunistic snipe surveys were conducted during a nine-day field trip of Sakhalin. Snipe were recorded either as incidental observations or during a 10’ point count. The highest numbers of snipe were found on the south-west coast of Sakhalin in the Tomarinskiy and Korsakovsky regions. All records were made in mosaic meadow-forest and modified grassland habitats, and none were obtained from forest or intact woodland. Comparison of these snapshot data to breeding surveys conducted between 1993 and 2012 demonstrate the species to be relatively widespread across Sakhalin, and in most areas not dominated by continuous forest. However, the conditions under which snipe breed successfully are more restricted than would be expected based on these broad habitat associations and numbers of displaying males. Agricultural intensification, spring burning of meadowlands and illegal shooting of snipe all reduce breeding success. While a significant proportion of the Latham’s Snipe global population appears to occur on Sakhalin (potentially as high as 18%), when considered in the broader context of species decline documented in Japan, it is likely that the global trend for this species is generally downward. © 2020, Australasian Wader Studies Group. All rights reserved.
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