"Snipe spend the winter across most of Texas, remaining from October until April ... The common snipe has a boldly striped back and head, streaked breast, and white belly . The rusty orange tail shows in flight. The only other shorebirds of similar size with such long straight bills are the dowitchers and the woodcock. Dowitchers lack the striped plumage and inhabit open ponds and mud flats rather than heavy grass. They also flash a long, triangular white patch on the lower back in flight. The American woodcock ... inhabits wet woodlands and thickets rather than open marshes and fields."