Chatham Island snipe (Coenocorypha pusilla) came close to the brink of extinction following the introduction of rats and cats to the Islands in the 1800s. Now they number in their 1000,s on predator-free islands such as Mangere & Rangatira. They hide under cover by day and are most active at dusk and dawn. Their closest relatives are typical shorebirds, but Chatham and New Zealand snipe are more similar to kiwi in some of their habits, sheltering in the undergrowth and feeding in damp inland bush or boggy clearings more than along the shore. They feed by probing into soft soil for worms, amphipods, insects and larvae.

The Chatham Islands are an archipelago and New Zealand territory in the Pacific Ocean, over 800 kilometres east of southern New Zealand.