Abstract

Over six winters, 2017/18 to 2022/23, I have been ringing and monitoring Jack Snipes Lymnocryptes minimus at a day-roost site on a small patch of land in Staffordshire. Thermal-imaging technology was considered likely to make finding and censusing this species easier; and it certainly does help. However, the behaviour of these birds complicates matters and the variations in the numbers seen at any given site throughout a winter period makes estimating the total at any given point in time very complex. Comparisons with other well-studied sites reinforce that notion. The variations in numbers, and the results of ringing some of the birds, also gives an insight into the possible diurnal usage of day-roost sites. A methodology to produce a better-informed population estimate for Jack Snipes is suggested.