This drawing from the France collection depicts the Australian Painted Snipe which is endemic to Australian wetlands. This medium sized, long-billed wading bird is 24 – 30 cm in length and has a wingspan from 50 to 54 cm. During the 20th century these waders have sharply declined due to wetland drainage, river management and salinisation, as well as grazing and trampling of wetlands by stock. The total remaining population ranges from a few hundred to a few thousand.

Did you know: They eat wetland invertebrates such as worms, molluscs, insects and crustaceans…Yum!