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American Woodcock (Scolopax minor), mother with chicks, family Scolopacidae, order Charadriiformes, Washington DC, USA

photograph by Andrew Tao

#woodcock #shorebird #scolopax #scolopacidae #charadriiformes #bird #ornithology #animals #nature #north america

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Woodcock (Scolopax)

Which is the best bird?

American woodcock

Eurasian woodcock

Amami woodcock

Bukidnon woodcock

Javan woodcock

Voting ended onJun 18, 2025

#bird poll #woodcock #scolopax #species level #completed

this is the Eurasian woodcock! indeed, its range is peppered throughout Eurasia - it lives on the Mediterranean coast, including parts of northern Africa, central and northern Europe, nearly all of subarctic Russia, southern India, southeast Asia and southern China, Japan - good god, they're all over! and, for some unholy reason, there is not a single recognized subspecies, with birds on opposite ends of the globe being considered identical species. i have no clue how they manage that.

some populations, like those from the Atlantic seaboard, are sedentary; but when these critters are migratory, they're REALLY migratory, some travelling between southeast Asia and continental Russia on the yearly. they live in areas with a combination of forests and fields, and are much more picky when it comes to breeding environments. ideal places to raise chicks contain damp areas for foraging, dry areas for resting, and open-sky areas for flight takeoff. they nest in scrapes.

in both breeding and nonbreeding ranges, the final determining factor as to whether an area is suitable or not is the quantity of earthworms in the soil. Eurasian woodcocks feed almost entirely on earthworms, probing the ground with their long, pointed bills to search for them. they grow less particular in the breeding season, willing to eat arthropods, slugs, and leeches; they also sometimes consume plant material, such as seeds, fruit, and grass. males of the species engage in a regular behavior called "roding"; at dusk, they perform aerial patrols over their territory, calling. their North American relative is known for its characteristic "peent" call, but this fellow's flight call consists of several low "burps" followed by a chirp that sounds like a cartoon laser gun.

4 July 2026