A plump, cinnamon-coloured bird bursts off the ground ahead, on a quiet evening walk in fading light along fields or beside an alder-bordered stream. With powerful wingbeats, an American woodcock, Scolopax minor, jumps up, startling me as it whirs its way to a more peaceful resting site.
A shorebird species adapted to live in uplands, woodcock are strange looking specialists. They possess disproportionately long, thin, flexible bills. They spend considerable amounts of time with their beaks in the ground, probing for earthworms and other invertebrates. Eyes on the back of the head let them scan the evening skies for predators like hawks, while their low ears listen for invertebrate foods moving in the ground. Their brain is turned upside down to make skull space for eyes and ears.
Woodcock are specialized feeders by sex. The larger female’s upper bill extends beyond her lower one. A male’s upper bill is the same length as its lower bill. The differences allow each sex to be more adept than the other at probing the earth for particular sizes and species of invertebrates. Probing the ground, they can sense and open the outer third of their flexible bills to grip prey. This results in more efficient food capturing within their territory. Woodcock diet is mostly earthworms, supplemented with grubs, beetles, and other small organisms.
Males fly north at night in March and April from wintering grounds in the southeastern United States and along the Texas coastal plain. They land as far north as southern Newfoundland and claim an abandoned field, Christmas tree lot, forest opening, alder swamp, or blueberry field. To attract females, the evening sky dances begin. This mating ritual begins with a spiraling upward flight to a height of 90 metres. An abrupt dive to the ground follows, with chirping and finally a nasal “penting” sound. This singing ground can range from 0.1 to 40 hectares. By dark, the male descends to rest.
Females eventually lay three to five eggs in a nest on the ground. These birds rely on camouflage, and look like brown leaf litter, easy to miss. Youngsters hatch in May or June and are almost fully grown in four weeks. Banding returns indicate that many return to nest in the same area yearly.
Mature forests see little woodcock use. Singing ground surveys indicate that woodcock populations have generally declined throughout their range in central and eastern North America as far west as Manitoba and south to Texas and Florida. These declines are linked to forest growing back on abandoned farms, possible DDT contamination of earthworms, and other habitat losses. Populations in the east have probably benefited from some of the repeated forest cutting over the past 300 years.
Young (15 to 30 years) open hardwoods are used for nesting and brood rearing. Young, dense alder, poplar, and hardwood stands with moist soils provide feeding areas plus brood and nesting habitats.
The woodcock’s slightly larger cousin in Europe has long been considered a delicacy. Our diminutive species, with a live weight of less than 200 grams, also has a human hunting history. Paul Le Jeune, a French Jesuit missionary in New France, noted in 1634 that Iroquois near Quebec City ate them. A mounted pair of woodcock reside in a 1911 diorama on my living room wall. My great-grandparents cherished them. The name “cocker spaniel” refers to woodcock hunting.
Woodland management can help woodcocks. For properties reverting from farmland to forest, judicious alder cutting every 10 years helps woodcock. Alder branches growing low to the ground instead of upward indicate an older age, which makes them less useful as thickets for woodcock. Brush piling instead of burning provides shelter for many interesting wild forest dwellers, including ground-nesting birds like ruffed grouse (also called partridge) and small mammals like snowshoe hare (rabbits). Brush piles also provide cover for devoted female woodcock who employ the broken wing trick to protect their chicks from predators.
When melting winter snows begin to reveal grassy patches, we look outside for woodcock that are resting or probing for worms and insects. It’s a rite of spring!
For more information, see The Book of the American Woodcock by William G. Sheldon (1971, University of Massachusetts Press).
What’s in a name?
The American woodcock has a number of nicknames, including night partridge, Labrador twister, bog sucker, mudsnipe, hokumpoke, and timberdoodle.