American Woodcock (Scolopax minor)
Description: The American Woodcock is a round, plump bird with a long beak. Another name for this type of bird is a Timberdoodle. Its feathers are arranged in a black and brown to tan pattern. This pattern makes the bird very inconspicuous and difficult to be seen when on the ground. It is about the size of a robin, at about 9 to 12 inches, and it weighs approximately 10 ounces.
Habitat: Woodcocks live in the southern states year round, but some migrate north in the spring to breed. They generally live on the edge of a forest and meadow.
Diet: A Woodcock eats earthworms, and other insects in the ground.
Behaviors:
Miscellaneous:
Habitat: Woodcocks live in the southern states year round, but some migrate north in the spring to breed. They generally live on the edge of a forest and meadow.
Diet: A Woodcock eats earthworms, and other insects in the ground.
Behaviors:
- By stepping on worms, it makes them easier to detect and capture by digging its beak into the ground. This action of hunting for earth worms is known as prodding
- They usually initially attract attention to themselves by calling ( a peent noise) and then shooting up into the air, where their wings make a different noise (a sharp twittering noise) and then spiral back down to the ground, usually next to a female
Miscellaneous:
- Unlike many birds that leave their nests at hatching, newly hatched woodcocks cannot feed themselves