The Amazing Timberdoodle

The American woodcock (Scolopax minor) is an unusual looking bird with its long bill, large widely spaced eyes on a stout neckless head. Its mottled plumage camouflages it superbly on the ground. Its suite of unique life-history traits and status as a game species has endeared it to bird enthusiasts and hunters alike.

The American woodcock typically inhabits areas with relatively moist soil such as the edges of shrubby thickets and clusters of saplings. The nesting grounds are typically adjacent to relatively open areas used for male courtship displays. Courtship displays consist of males trilling while spiraling high in the evening sky (up to 300 ft) with the air passing over specially shaped wing feathers producing a whistling and chirping sound. They then flutter back to the earth to repeat a buzzy “peent” call before repeating the display. The display made a lasting impression on famed land manager and conservationist Aldo Leopold who wrote that these “sky dances” are “a refutation of the theory that the utility of a game bird is to serve as a target, or to pose gracefully on a piece of toast” in his monumental essay, “A Sand County Almanac.” The American woodcock travels northward to Pennsylvania and other destinations from its winter habitats in the late winter to commence breeding and feeding activities. It stays throughout the warmer months departing for its overwintering habitats in the early fall. The long, sensitive bill is used for probing deep into the moist soil for earthworms, which it can detect by the sense of touch alone. This feeding behavior likely earned it the popular nickname, “the bog sucker,” while the name "timberdoodle" likely comes from its courtship display.

While numbers are still high, populations of the American woodcock have declined over the past 40 years. Much of the historic habitat has been lost to development, the draining of our native wetlands, changes in soil hydrology, and the fact that early successional farmlands have matured past optimal habitat. Currently, the American woodcock is a species of general conservation concern in the state of Pennsylvania, and is on the Pennsylvania Audubon Society's watchlist.

In the 1980's this species was one of the reasons that WPC worked to protect lake front habitat along the shoreline of Lake Erie that is now State Game Lands #314, the David Roderick Reserve. Much of the 3,000+ acres there is prime woodcock nesting habitat.

Today's photo was take by WPC's Endangered Species Biologist/Herpotologist Ben Jellen.

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