During winter, it is estimated that up to 1. In the population was estimated at 78, males, providing a baseline against which to assess future population change. The current breeding range is less than half its s extent, supporting other evidence of long term population decline. The reasons for the decline are unclear but may include recreational disturbance, drying out of woodlands, increased browsing by deer, declining woodland management, and maturing of new plantations. Woodcock is listed as a bird of conservation concern as part of a wider breeding population decline in Europe.
Thanks to the help of our volunteers, over randomly selected sites were surveyed in , and here we provide an insight into the preliminary results. Preliminary analysis of the results found:.
In conjunction with GWCT Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust , further analysis is under way which will examine changes in Woodcock abundance from to to produce new national population size estimates. We will use the survey results, combined with habitat information to examine potential causes behind different regional trends in Woodcock numbers and distribution. Read the preliminary Woodcock national survey and roding count results. The GWCT is using satellite tracking to study the astonishing long-distance migrations of the Woodcock which visit Britain and Ireland in einter.
Individuals can travel many thousands of miles to breed, and yet return to the same areas to winter. Woodcock migration activity levels can viewed and entered on the RGS National Woodcock Migration Mapping System and a new research study of individual woodcock migration best viewed in Firefox or Chrome was started in There are two major woodcock populations in North America, with each inhabiting a separate region: the Eastern Region is from the Appalachian Mountains east; and the Central Region is from west of the Appalachians to the Great Plains.
The American woodcock Scolopax minor is known by a host of colloquial names, the most common being timberdoodle. Other colorful nicknames include Labrador twister, bogsucker and mudsnipe.
Woodcock are about the size of robins, and their plumage is an overall mottled russet or brown. Males and females are similar in appearance, although females generally average a bit heavier than males — 7.
Naturalists have speculated that this positioning lets the bird look to all sides while it probes for food.
Nostrils are located high on the bill, close to the skull. The brain of an American woodcock is unique among birds. The cerebellum, which controls muscle coordination and body balance, is below the rest of the brain and above the spinal column. In most birds, the cerebellum occupies the rear of the skull. One theory holds that as the woodcock evolved: the eyes moved back in the skull, the bill lengthened and the nostrils approached the base of the bill, allowing for enhanced ground-probing abilities see video below.
As a result, the brain was rearranged, and the modern bird, in essence, has an upside-down one. The worms are high in fat and protein, they provide the necessary nutrients to help keep woodcock healthy and strong.
An additional 30 percent of a woodcock diet consists of insects such as ants, flies, beetles, crickets, caterpillars, grasshoppers and various larvae. Woodcock primarily feed in early evening and just before dawn.
Because they have a quick digestive system, an adult woodcock may eat its weight in worms every day. When woodcock flush, air passes through their rapidly beating wings and produces a trilling or whistling sound. The birds usually flutter up out of cover, level off and fly for distances ranging from ten to several hundred yards before setting down.
During the mating season, a male timberdoodle on the ground will sound a nasal, buzzing insect-like note usually described as a peent. Preceding each peent is a two-syllable gurgling note known as a tuko. While the peent carries several hundred yards, the much softer tuko is audible up to about 10 yards from the bird. Some examples of the different woodcock sounds include: the flight song — a series of liquid, gurgling chirps — which is sounded on the wing by a male trying to attract a mate, while a male defending his breeding territory against another male calls cac-cac-cac-cac as he flies toward his rival.
A female will squeal and often feign a broken wing to lure intruders away from her young. In the spring, males establish territories known as singing grounds, where they can perform the flight song and a ground display. While on the ground, a male peents to attract females. He next takes off to ascend or feet on twittering wings.
Then, sounding his liquid chirps, he spirals downward. Displays and mating occur during short periods at dawn and dusk, usually from early March to mid-May when temperatures are above freezing and winds are calm.
Males may mate with several different females during the mating season. They play no role in nest selection, incubation or rearing of the young. The nest is a slight depression on the ground in dead leaves. They are well camouflaged: colored pinkish buff to cinnamon and covered with light brown blotches overlaid with darker speckles. Incubation starts with the final egg laid and lasts 19 to 22 days. If disturbed during the early part of her incubation period, the hen may abandon the nest.
The longer she sits on the eggs, the less apt she is to desert them: toward the end of her setting she may hold tight even when touched by a human hand. Dogs, cats, skunks, opossums, raccoons, foxes, ravens, crows, and snakes are among the predators that may catch and eat hens or eat the eggs.
Hens that lose their first clutch may renest, generally laying only three eggs the second time around. The eggs hatch from early April into mid-June. Woodcock eggs split lengthwise, unique among birds. Chicks are precocial — well-enough developed that they can leave the nest only a few hours after hatching. They are covered with down, pale brownish or buff in color and broken up with darker spots and stripes in a camouflaging pattern.
The hen broods her young frequently, settling her body over them to shield them from rain and cold. Although woodcock hens nest singly, they may share feeding areas with other hens and broods. At first, a hen finds food for her young, but after a few days the chicks feed themselves. After two weeks the young can fly short distances, and at the end of four weeks they are almost fully grown, fly strongly, and look like adults. The family breaks up when the young are six to eight weeks old.
If a woodcock reaches adulthood, its life expectancy is about 1. Woodcock are hardy, and seem able to heal following injuries that would kill most other birds. Woodcock perish from accidents, many of which happen during nighttime flying.
Predators seize them, including hawks, owls, and weasels. Some woodcock die during bad weather, when individuals returning north in spring get caught by snowstorms and hard freezes that seal off their food sources. Hunters harvest around 1. Over the last 50 years, the woodcock's population has fallen.
Scientists, conservationists, and habitat managers are working to reverse that trend by creating young forest in regional habitat initiatives set up across the woodcock's range. Woodcock population and young forest habitat management - Timberdoodle. Search form Search. Natural History. The more people come to know the woodcock, the more they appreciate this unique bird. Taxonomy The American woodcock Scolopax minor is a shorebird that has evolved to live in upland settings, mainly in areas of dense young forest.
Names and Appearance Because of where it lives, its oddball looks, and its various behaviors, the American woodcock has earned a host of folk names including timberdoodle , night partridge, big-eye, bogsucker, and mudbat. Behavior On the ground, woodcock mainly walk about, although they can scuttle along fairly rapidly where the cover permits it. Food When feeding, a woodcock probes with its bill into soft soil.
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