Sexes alike. Cryptic-coloured marsh bird, brownish-buff, heavily streaked and marked buff, rufous and black; dull white below. Fast, erratic flight; 14 or 16 tail
feathers; whitish wing-lining distinctive, but not easily seen. The Pintail Snipe G. stenura is very similar and usually distinguished only when held in the hand and with considerable experience in observation. Usually several in dense marsh growth; very difficult to see unless flushed; probes with long beak in mud, often in shallow water; feeds mostly during mornings and evenings, often continuing through the night.