Cooperative Living February 2017 - 13

FeatheredFriends | Story and Artwork by Spike Knuth, Contributing Columnist
American Woodcock
T
he American woodcock can be
a mystery. Oftentimes the only
evidence that it has been around are
small drill holes in the mud and chalky
white droppings under a thicket of alders
or willows.
These are signs of a secretive bird found
in open-forest bottomlands, young-growth
forests, abandoned fields with brushy
clumps, swales and wet meadows at the
edge of woodlands, where willow, alder,
aspen and birch grow. It will hunker down
quietly in the shadows, waiting until dark
to feed on its favorite food, earthworms.
Because of this, woodcock are apt to
inhabit areas where they're not expected to
be, and are usually seen only by those who
are looking for them.
The American woodcock is generally
considered an upland game bird, although
it is placed in the sandpiper family by
ornithologists. Its two dominant features
are its large eyes and long bill. It is known
also as timberdoodle, bog snipe, bog borer,
wood snipe and big eyes. It may be
confused with the common or jack
snipe, which is a bird of the marshland
mudflats or wet meadows in open land. It,
too, has a long bill but smaller eyes and is
not as stocky in build.
The woodcock is a plump bird with
large eyes that are set high, toward the
back of its head, enabling it to see behind
it much like a rabbit. Its head is large and
its neck short. It measures about 10 to 11
inches, with females larger and heavier at
up to three-quarters of a pound and with a
longer bill. The bill of the woodcock is
quite amazing. Simply put, it has a flexible
tip with which the bird can feel for worms.
While in the ground, the bill is capable of
closing, pinching the worm and pulling it
out. The woodcock also feeds on small
forest snails and slugs, beetles, flies and
other insects.
Both sexes are similar in colors,
their underparts pale brown to buffy
cinnamon, while the upper parts are
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The
Wood
Snipe
The American woodcock is generally considered an upland game bird,
although it is placed in the sandpiper family by ornithologists.
patterns of brown, gray, russet and dark
browns, perfect camouflage for sitting in
dead and drying leaves on the forest floor,
especially important during nesting. They
show a white eye ring and a crown of dark
brown patches over the top marked by
buffy or white lines.
The woodcock's wings are rounded,
with the first three primary feathers being
very narrow and sometimes creating a
whistling sound when the bird flushes.
When flushing it flies straight up on
fluttery wings before leveling off, then
often making erratic, sharp turns left or
right at the top of its rise.
The woodcock has one of the most
curious courtship rituals of all birds. In
March or April, shortly after sunset during
the afterglow, the male flies up into the air
anywhere from 60 to 300 feet, " twittering "
as it ascends. He then levels off and begins
his descent, fluttering and zig-zagging or
The bill of the woodcock
is quite amazing.
Simply put, it has a
flexible tip with which
the bird can feel for
worms. While in the
ground, the bill is
capable of closing,
pinching the worm and
pulling it out.
circling downward, wings whistling a bit,
uttering a liquid chirping as he drops
all the way to a spot on the ground. Here
he struts about proudly with a weird
rhumba gait, uttering a sound best
described as " bzeep " or " peent. " The act is
referred to as " peenting, " and the places
where woodcocks do this are called
" peenting, " or singing grounds. It's a good
bet that a female or two are nearby, having
been attracted to the male's antics.
Woodcocks breed over most of the
northeastern United States, with the
heaviest concentrations in New Brunswick,
Maine and Michigan. Once paired off, the
female builds a nest on the forest floor
near or under branches of shrubs or small
trees. The nest is a slight depression in
which she lays three to four eggs.
Incubation takes about 21 days and after
the young hatch they grow rapidly. They
are flying in a couple of weeks, and are
fully grown in 25 days.
Woodcocks winter all along the Atlantic
and Gulf coasts, especially in Louisiana.
Many migrate through Virginia from
October through December. Some winter
here, especially at the southern tip of the
Eastern Shore. The first hard freeze forces
woodcocks to head south. Since their main
food is earthworms, they have to go where
the food is, and they can be vulnerable to
drought or freezing weather. An interesting
aside is that the cocker spaniel was
originally bred to hunt woodcocks
and was known as the " woodcocker. "
Recent surveys indicate a gradual longterm
decline in woodcock-breeding
populations. Biologists believe that gradual
loss of habitat is the primary cause for this
decline. Even those small wooded lots
near creeks and streams so attractive as
subdivisions are often the last remnants of
good woodcock habitat in populated areas.
I know of one area in western Henrico
County that hosted the woodcock's sky
dance each spring. It is now a complex of
youth baseball and soccer fields. 
February 2017 | Cooperative Living | 11
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Cooperative Living February 2017

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