American Woodcock
Scolopax minor
The woodcock's brain is essentially upside down compared to other birds, an evolutionary trade-off for having 360-degree vision to spot predators while probing soil.
- Scientific name
- Scolopax minor
- Taxonomy
- Animalia › Chordata › Aves › Charadriiformes › Scolopacidae › Scolopax
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- decreasing
- Biome
- forest
- Habitat
- Early-successional young forests, alder thickets, and moist old fields near wetlands.
- Diet
- Primarily earthworms, supplemented by various soil-dwelling insects and larvae.
- Range
- Eastern United States, Southeastern Canada
- Size
- 25-30 cm length, wingspan of 42-48 cm
- Lifespan
- 8 years
- Active
- crepuscular
- Threats
- Loss of early-successional forest habitat due to forest maturation and land development, and collisions with glass.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless and shy. If you flush one, it will fly up with a distinct whistling sound. Keep a respectful distance, especially during spring 'sky dance' displays at dusk to avoid interrupting mating rituals.
The American woodcock ( Scolopax minor ), sometimes colloquially referred to as the timberdoodle , is a small chunky shorebird species found primarily in the eastern half of North America. Woodcocks spend most of their time on the ground in brushy, young-forest habitats, where the birds' brown, black, and gray plumage provides excellent camouflage.
Photo: Owen Strickland, CC-BY, via iNaturalist
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