A probable Wilson’s Snipe (Gallinago delicata) was found and photographed at Dar Bouazza near Casablanca on 27 December 2014 by Benoît Maire. This is would be the first Moroccan record for the species if accepted by the MRBC.
The relatively recent split of the Wilson’s Snipe from the Common Snipe (G. gallinago) means that the Nearctic species is still new to most countries/regions of the Western Palearctic. For instance, Britain got it’s first in 1998, France in 2005, and the Canary Islands in 2013. More records are listed in Netfugl.dk and Tarsiger.com.
The difficulties in distinguishing the two species should probably also cited as a possible cause of scarcity of records (only guessing!). For the ID see this article:
Reid, M. 2008. Identification of Wilson’s and Common Snipe. British Birds 101: 189-200.
Morocco birding in 2014: 4 new species
If accepted, the Wilson’s Snipe would be the forth new species added to the Moroccan list in 2014 after the White-backed Vulture (Gyps africanus), the Long-tailed Duck (Clangula hyemalis) and the American Purple Gallinule (Porphyrio martinicus).
Update (January 2016):
This record was not accepted by the Moroccan Rare Birds Committee (MRBC) in its latest report.
