Photo of the week: Antipodes Island snipe

Today’s photo of the week is of an adult Antipodes Island snipe, a subspecies of the Subantarctic snipe endemic to the Antipodes Islands in the Southern Ocean.

This winter, the Million Dollar Mouse project will begin a mice eradication programme on the Antipodes Islands. Mice were introduced to the Antipodes in the middle of the twentieth century and are the sole mammalian pest species on the island.

Mice predate birds, invertebrates, and plants. If the island’s native inhabitants are to thrive, mice need to be eradicated.

Learn more about the Antipodes Island snipe and the Million Dollar Mouse project on the DOC website.

Photo: David Boyle | NZ Birds Online.