American Woodcock
Scolopax minor
Plump, well-camouflaged shorebird that favors wooded or shrubby areas, usually near open fields. Plain buffy-salmon belly distinctive; also note intricately patterned upperparts with broad gray stripes down the back. Goofy-looking expression with huge dark eye placed high and far back on head. Extremely long bill used to probe the ground for worms. When flushed from dense cover, listen for high-pitched wing twittering and note rotund shape and long bill. Might be confused with Wilson’s Snipe, but woodcock is not nearly as dark and patterned. Fairly common throughout eastern North America, but secretive and rarely seen well in daytime. Always on the ground, except during well-known elaborate courtship display performed from dusk to dawn in spring. Listen for loud nasal “PEENT!” calls from the ground and high-pitched chirps and twitters (produced by the outer wing feathers) from high in the sky.
Identification
The American woodcock has a plump body, short legs, a large, rounded head, and a long, straight prehensile bill. Adults are 10 to 12 inches (25 to 30 cm) long and weigh 5 to 8 ounces (140 to 230 g). Females are considerably larger than males. The bill is 2.5 to 2.8 inches (6.4 to 7.1 cm) long. Wingspans range from 16.5 to 18.9 inches (42 to 48 cm).<p>The plumage is a cryptic mix of different shades of browns, grays, and black. The chest and sides vary from yellowish-white to rich tans. The nape of the head is black, with three or four crossbars of deep buff or rufous. The feet and toes, which are small and weak, are brownish gray to reddish brown. Woodcocks have large eyes located high in their heads, and their visual field is probably the largest of any bird, 360° in the horizontal plane and 180° in the vertical plane.<p>The woodcock uses its long, prehensile bill to probe in the soil for food, mainly invertebrates and especially earthworms. A unique bone-and-muscle arrangement lets the bird open and close the tip of its upper bill, or mandible, while it is sunk in the ground. Both the underside of the upper mandible and the long tongue are rough-surfaced for grasping slippery prey.
Taxonomy
The genus Scolopax was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. The genus name is Latin for a snipe or woodcock. The type species is the Eurasian woodcock (Scolopax rusticola).
- Scientific name
- Scolopax minor
- Authority
- Gmelin, JF, 1789
- Order
- Charadriiformes
- Family
- Scolopacidae
- Genus
- Scolopax
Range and habitat
Woodcocks inhabit forested and mixed forest-agricultural-urban areas east of the 98th meridian. Woodcock have been sighted as far north as York Factory, Manitoba, and east to Labrador and Newfoundland. In winter, they migrate as far south as the Gulf Coast of the United States and Mexico.<p>The primary breeding range extends from Atlantic Canada (Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick) west to southeastern Manitoba, and south to northern Virginia, western North Carolina, Kentucky, northern Tennessee, northern Illinois, Missouri, and eastern Kansas. A limited number breed as far south as Florida and Texas. The species may be expanding its distribution northward and westward.<p>After migrating south in autumn, most woodcocks spend the winter in the Gulf Coast and southeastern Atlantic Coast states. Some may remain as far north as southern Maryland, eastern Virginia, and southern New Jersey. The core of the wintering range centers on Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. Based on the Christmas Bird Count results, winter concentrations are highest in the northern half of Alabama.<p>American woodcocks live in wet thickets, moist woods, and brushy swamps. Ideal habitats feature early successional habitat and abandoned farmland mixed with forest. In late summer, some woodcocks roost on the ground at night in large openings among sparse, patchy vegetation. <p>Woodcocks migrate at night. They fly at low altitudes, individually or in small, loose flocks. Flight speeds of migrating birds have been clocked at 16 to 28 mi/h (26 to 45 km/h). However, the slowest flight speed ever recorded for a bird, 5 mi/h (8 km/h), was recorded for this species. Woodcocks are thought to orient visually using major physiographic features such as coastlines and broad river valleys. Both the autumn and spring migrations are leisurely compared with the swift, direct migrations of many passerine birds.<p>In the north, woodcocks begin to shift southward before ice and snow seal off their ground-based food supply. Cold fronts may prompt heavy southerly flights in autumn. Most woodcocks start to migrate in October, with the major push from mid-October to early November. Most individuals arrive on the wintering range by mid-December. The birds head north again in February. Most have returned to the northern breeding range by mid-March to mid-April.<p>Migrating birds' arrival at and departure from the breeding range is highly irregular. In Ohio, for example, the earliest birds are seen in February, but the bulk of the population does not arrive until March and April. Birds start to leave for winter by September, but some remain until mid-November.
- Breeding range
- NA : temperate e Nearctic forest and edge: sw Alberta e to Maritime Provinces (sc to se Canada) and s to se Texas and n Florida (e USA)
- Non-breeding range
- to woodlands and fields of se Texas and s Florida
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Behavior
Migration pattern: Complete migrants.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Carpodacus formosanus
Endemic to Taiwan's mountain forests, this is the only breeding rosefinch on the island. Male deep wine-red with a frosty white brow and dark wings. Female dark brown, finely streaked below. Usually forages low in the forest, in thickets or on the ground. In parks and near villages, often perches up on railings and trail markers.
New Zealand Kaka
Nestor meridionalis
A large, olive-brown parrot endemic to New Zealand. Adults have a deep crimson belly and undertail with a red-orange underwing. South Island birds are brighter with a white crown. Juveniles have a yellow base to their lower bill. A forest-dwelling parrot that is more common on offshore islands, but flourishes in areas where mammalian predators are controlled; some visit city and rural gardens. Harsh, grating “kra-aa” call is often heard before the bird is seen. The species also whistles a series of tuneful notes while perched. Distinguishable from Kea by smaller size, olive-brown as opposed to olive-green plumage, and range.
Thick-billed Vireo
Vireo crassirostris
A small loquacious inhabitant of scrubland, thickets, and brushy forest edges where it typically feeds within dense cover. The similar White-eyed Vireo can be distinguished by its smaller bill, greener back, and bright yellow sides; furthermore, adults have white, not dusky, eyes. The Cuban Vireo lacks the Thick-billed Vireo’s bold wingbars. The song is a scratchy jumbled “chick, didderwid-weee-zhee, chip” or variations thereof. Calls include a “zhip” given singly or in short bursts, a drawn-out harsh “zzhhe,” and a variety of chattering sounds.
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