This bizarre and cumbersome-looking relative of the snipes is fairly common but rarely seen; active mainly at dusk and dawn. Favors damp leafy ground in forest and woodland, but comes out at night to feed in damp pastures. When flushed, flies off quickly and usually silently from close range, a little like a small grouse. Note fat body and long bill; plumage less boldly striped than smaller and slimmer snipes. At dusk in spring, males do flight patrols of their territory and can be seen as silhouettes against the evening sky, giving a distinctive but odd-sounding call.