Scolopax minor
American woodcock

American woodcocks occurs only in North America. They are distributed widely in the eastern United States and southeast Canada. Some individuals may winter in the Caribbean (Keppie and Whiting 1994).

American woodcocks are found in forests with open areas. A mosaic of young forests and abandoned farm fields is ideal for woodcocks. The specific habitat varies with activity and season. Woodcocks prefer areas with woody vegetation for singing grounds, and forest edges or areas with cover for feeding. They nest in a variety of habitats such as open fields, mixed forests, brush fields, and coniferous forests. Wintering grounds are a wide variety of forest types, including bottomland hardwoods, mature longleaf pine forests, and upland mixed pine-hardwood forests.

American woodcocks are short, plump, compact birds with very long (5.9 to 7.8 cm) bills that are specialized for feeding on earthworms. Woodcocks are mottled brown, rich buff and gray in a way that camouflages them well in woodland habitat. Their heads are large, with three dark bands across the back. Woodcocks have large brown eyes that are set far back in the skull, providing rearview binocular vision. Their wings are broad and rounded.

Male and female American woodcocks are similar in appearance, though females are generally larger than males. Female American woodcocks range from 27 to 31 cm long and can weigh 151 to 279 g. Their wingspans range from 44.6 to 50.8 cm. Males range from 25 to 28 cm long and weigh 116 to 219 g. Their wingspans range from 40.4 to 45.5 cm (Keppie and Whiting, 1994; Terres, 1980).

The maximum known lifespan of American woodcocks is 8 years.

American woodcocks are solitary birds seldom seen by day. They are most active from dusk to dark, around dawn, on moonlit nights, and sometimes on cloudy days. They also migrate at night, singly or in small, loose flocks. During migration, flocks may turn up in city parks, yards, orchards, and on lawns. There is no evidence of social dominance hierarchy in this species, nor minimum individual distances.

Home Range

Studies of American woodcocks have estimated home range sizes between 150,000 and 740,000 square meters.

American woodcocks use vocalizations and physical displays to communicate. They make at least four recognized calls, including the Peent, Tuko, Chirping and Cackle. Males perform a spectacular display called a “song flight” or “sky dance”, presumably to attract potential mates. In this display, males fly silently into the air, rising in continually widening circles up to about 100 m. Their wings 'twitter' with increasing melody as they rise. They hover momentarily and begin singing and chirping vigorously, continuing to sing while fluttering down like a falling leaf. In the breeding season, the song flight follows a bout of Peenting. It is not known if song flights are used solely to attract females; they are also performed in the presence of other males or when the male is alone (Keppie and Whiting, 1994; Terres, 1980)

American woodcocks primarily eat invertebrates. Earthworms account for 50-90% of the diet, which also includes beetles, flies, centipedes, and various insect larvae. Woodcocks occasionally eat seeds, but plant materials account for a very small fraction of their total diet.

American woodcocks feed mostly during the day in spring and summer. In winter, they feed at night. They are generally solitary foragers, though they don’t defend a feeding territory, and loose concentrations may develop if few suitable sites are available. Woodcocks locate surface food visually. There is some evidence that they use foot-stomping and shifts in weight to locate subsurface prey. If one of those movements causes an earthworm to move underground, a woodcock locates the worm either by hearing it or by feeling its vibrations through the bill, which it keeps in contact with the ground. (Keppie and Whiting, 1994; US Forest Service)

Woodcocks probably do not drink water. They obtain sufficient water in the foods that they eat.

Though specific predators of American woodcocks have not been well documented, predation is the primary cause of woodcock mortality in many areas. Woodcock adults, chicks and eggs are vulnerable to predation by a number of avian and mammalian predators, including domestic cats. Eggs are also vulnerable to predation by snakes.

Woodcocks are cryptically colored in brown, buff and gray. This coloration allows them to blend in with their habitat, making them less visible to predators. In response to predators, females may feign injury in order to draw a predator away from her nest or chicks.

American woodcocks affect the local populations of the earthworms and insect species that they eat. They may aerate the soil while probing for insects and earthworms. They also host at least 49 different types of parasites.

There are no known adverse affects of American woodcocks on humans.

American woodcocks are a popular gamebird. An average of 2 million American woodcocks are shot each year by hunters.

Populations of American woodcocks appear to have declined over the past several decades. However, there is not sufficient data to accurately track woodcock populations. Sources of mortality for American woodcocks include hunting and collisions with cars, utility wires, lighthouses, TV towers, and other structures during migration. They are also sometimes killed in long periods of cold or freezing weather when food is unavailable. Scientists are concerned that American woodcocks are threatened on their breeding and wintering grounds by hydrocarbon pesticides sprayed for insect control. However, this has not been sufficiently studied. (Keppie and Whiting, 1994; Terres, 1980)

American woodcocks are protected under the U.S. Migratory Bird Act. They are not protected under CITES or the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

American woodcocks have several other interesting common names, including timberdoodle, Labrador twister, night partridge and bog sucker (Keppie and Whiting, Jr. 1994).