American Woodcock

American Woodcock
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Subclass: Neornithes Infraclass: Neognathae Superorder: Neoaves Order: Charadriiformes Suborder: Scolopaci Family: Scolopacidae Genus: Scolopax Species: S. minor
Binomial name
Scolopax minor Gmelin, 1789
Synonyms
Philohela minor

The American Woodcock (Scolopax minor) is a small chunky shorebird species from North America. It is popularly known as timberdoodle and a well-known game bird.

Adults have short pinkish legs and a very long straight pinkish bill with an articulated dark tip. The wings are rounded. The body is patterned cinnamon on top and a lighter brown underneath, with a cryptic lighter and darker pattern. They have large eyes located high in the head, and their visual field is probably the largest of any bird, 360° in the horizontal plane, and 180° in the vertical plane^[1].

Ecology and status

Their breeding habitat is wet wooded areas in eastern North America. The northernmost birds migrates to the southern parts of the breeding range in winter. Based on the Christmas Bird Count results, winter concentrations are highest in the northern half of Alabama.

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/April. Birds start to leave for winter by September, but some remain until mid-November.^[2]

These birds forage by probing in soft soil in thickets, usually well-hidden from sight. They mainly eat earthworms and arthropods, but also some plant material; when foraging for prey hidden in the soil the moveable bill-tip works like tweezers. They are crepuscular, being most active at dawn and dusk.

The downy young are already well-camouflaged

The male performs a high spiralling flight during courtship, generating a twittering sound as air moves through its wing feathers. These performances occur over open areas near feeding locations at dawn, dusk, and if the light levels are high enough on moonlit nights. The ritual may be repeated as long as four months running – sometimes continuing even after females have already hatched their brood and left the nest. American Woodcocks nest on the ground in an open wooded location; their young are precocial. When threatened, the young usually take cover and remain motionless, attempting to escape detection by their camouflage colors. But if this is not sufficient, they may cling to the body of their mother, who will then take wing and carry the young to safety^[3].

This species is not considered globally threatened by the IUCN. It is more tolerant of deforestation than other woodcocks and snipes; as long as some sheltered woodland remains for breeding, it can thrive even in regions that are mainly used for agriculture.^[4]

Footnotes

References

• BirdLife International (BLI) (2008). Scolopax minor. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2008. Retrieved on 20 May 2009.
• Henninger, W.F. (1906): A preliminary list of the birds of Seneca County, Ohio. Wilson Bull. 18(2): 47-60. DjVu fulltext PDF fulltext
• Jones, Michael P.; Pierce, Kenneth E. & Ward, Daniel (2007): Avian vision: a review of form and function with special consideration to birds of prey. Journal of Exotic Pet Medicine 16(2): 69-87. doi:10.1053/j.jepm.2007.03.012 (HTML abstract)
• Mann, Clive F. (1991): Sunda Frogmouth Batrachostomus cornutus carrying its young. Forktail 6: 77-78. PDF fulltext
• Ohio Ornithological Society (OOS) (2004): Annotated Ohio state checklist. Version of April 2004. PDF fulltext

Further reading

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (May 2009)

• Choiniere, Joe (2006): Seasons of the Woodcock: The secret life of a woodland shorebird. Sanctuary 45(4): 3-5.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Scolopax minor

• American Woodcock Species Account - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• American Woodcock - Scolopax minor - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification Infocenter
• American Woodcock Bird Sound
• American Woodcock Information - South Dakota Birds and Birding
• Rite of Spring - Illustrated account of the phenomenal courtship flight of the male American Woodcock
• American Woodcock videos on the Internet Bird Collection
• Photo-High Res; Article – www.fws.gov–"Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge", photo gallery and analysis