After twice missing this species where it was supposedly reliable, we visited the yard of one of the Bharatpur guides to see this skulking individual, our only one of the trip. Painted-Snipes are famous for sex role reversal. Polyandrous females are larger and brighter than males. I judged this to be an immature female showing pale flecking on its dark maroon head. Painted-Snipes consist of three species in the family Rostratulidae. Their superficial similarity to true snipes is attributed to convergence. This is the Greater Painted-Snipe which occurs in a patchy distribution from Africa to East Asia. The Australian Painted-Snipe was considered a subspecies, but has since been split by most authors based on a 2007 genetic study by Baker et al. A third species is confined to South America. Digiscoped with Panasonic DMC-LX5 | Nikon FieldScope III | 30XWA | hand-held (no adapter).
References:
Baker, A.J., Pereira, S.L., Rogers, D.I., Elbourne, R., and Hassell, C.J. (2007). Mitochondrial-DNA evidence shows the Australian Painted Snipe is a full species, Rostratula australis. EMU 107, 185–189.
Chandler, R. (2009). Shorebirds of North America, Europe, and Asia: A photographic guide. Princeton.
Kirwan, G.M. (2016). Greater Painted-snipe (Rostratula benghalensis). In: del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. (retrieved from http://www.hbw.com/node/53745 on 2 July 2016).
Rasmussen, P.C. & Anderton, J.C. (2005) Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. Vols. 1 and 2. Smithsonian Institution & Lynx Edicions, Washington, D.C. & Barcelona.