The first displaying males are already observed in the first half of April. The main displaying period falls in May and the beginning of June (Dyrcz et al. 1972, Pugacewicz 2002). The culmination of displaying largely depends on hydrological conditions in a given year. In drier years it fells in the beginning of May, while in the case of long-lasting spring floods even in the last decade of May. Great snipes display longest on large leks with more than 10 males and in places with relatively stable habitat conditions they are observed throughout the breeding season. For example, the last displaying birds were observed at Biebrza Marshes and the Narew valley in the first decade of July (Korniluk et al. 2015).
In the 1960s on Biebrza Marshes, great snipes began laying eggs from 5 May, with a peak between 10-20 May (Dyrcz et al. 1972). Currently, the breeding period may probably start a little earlier, e.g. in the Bug valley a nest with the full brood was found on 11 May (P. Stachyra – unpublished data), while in 2013 and 2014 in the upper Narew valley the date of the first full brood fell on the first and the second decade of May. Indirect results from telemetry studies carried out in this area indicate that females can a second brood after a loss at an early stage of incubation. In 2014, one of the females began incubating the second brood around 1 June (M. Korniluk – unpublished data).
Females incubate for 22-24 days, and the chicks fledge after 21-28 days (Dyrcz 2004). Based on a sample of nests found in Poland, it can be estimated that great snipe chicks fledge mainly in the first and the second decade of June. When planning conservation measures, it is important to adapt the mowing dates to the breeding phenology of great snipe as it starts breeding as the last of other wader birds in Poland.
If there are no suitable foraging areas in the vicinity of the lek, great snipes move to rich feeding grounds (sometimes even 80 km away from the leks) immediately after the completion of the displaying period. They need to accumulate adequate fat reserves for about two months to allow them to undertake an exhausting journey to Africa. Usually the feeding grounds are located on wet mowed or grazed meadows, often peatlands, which from July to September provide the birds with the appropriate structure for foraging (M. Korniluk - unpublished data).
In the 1960s on Biebrza Marshes, great snipes began laying eggs from 5 May, with a peak between 10-20 May (Dyrcz et al. 1972). Currently, the breeding period may probably start a little earlier, e.g. in the Bug valley a nest with the full brood was found on 11 May (P. Stachyra – unpublished data), while in 2013 and 2014 in the upper Narew valley the date of the first full brood fell on the first and the second decade of May. Indirect results from telemetry studies carried out in this area indicate that females can a second brood after a loss at an early stage of incubation. In 2014, one of the females began incubating the second brood around 1 June (M. Korniluk – unpublished data).
Females incubate for 22-24 days, and the chicks fledge after 21-28 days (Dyrcz 2004). Based on a sample of nests found in Poland, it can be estimated that great snipe chicks fledge mainly in the first and the second decade of June. When planning conservation measures, it is important to adapt the mowing dates to the breeding phenology of great snipe as it starts breeding as the last of other wader birds in Poland.
If there are no suitable foraging areas in the vicinity of the lek, great snipes move to rich feeding grounds (sometimes even 80 km away from the leks) immediately after the completion of the displaying period. They need to accumulate adequate fat reserves for about two months to allow them to undertake an exhausting journey to Africa. Usually the feeding grounds are located on wet mowed or grazed meadows, often peatlands, which from July to September provide the birds with the appropriate structure for foraging (M. Korniluk - unpublished data).
