American Woodcock
(Scolopax minor)

Overview

Summary

© Marcel Gahbauer
For additional photos and vocalizations, visit Dendroica. (Link opens in a new window.)

The American Woodcock breeds in forested habitats across eastern North America and is most abundant between 40 and 50 degrees North. Birds breeding in Canada migrate as far south as the Texas Gulf Coast in winter. A dedicated survey for American Woodcock suggests a moderate decrease in population size relative to about 1970. The species is hunted, especially in the United States. This species has been identified as a priority for conservation and/or stewardship in one or more Bird Conservation Region Strategies in Canada.

Designations

Population status

Population estimate

Distribution maps

• BirdLife International / NatureServe

Migration strategy, occurrence

Responsibility for conservation of world population

Conservation and management

The species is a moderately popular game bird in the United States (2013-14 harvest = 243,100 birds; Cooper and Rau 2014). In Canada, both the estimated harvest and the number of successful hunters have shown a four-fold decline since about 1970 (2013 harvest: 33, 533 birds; Gendron and Smith 2014). Population declines are believed to have resulted in large part from changes in land use. Woodcock prefer young or disturbed forest; abandoned farmland mixed with forest is ideal. Maturation of forest, suppression of fire, agricultural intensification, and urbanisation may all have contributed to decreases in American Woodcock populations (Keppie and Whiting 1994).

Bird conservation region strategies

Environment and Climate Change Canada and partners have developed Bird Conservation Region Strategies in each of Canada’s Bird Conservation Regions (BCRs). In these strategies, selected species are identified as priorities for one or more of the following reasons:

• conservation concerns (i.e., species vulnerable due to population size, distribution, population trend, abundance, or threats)
• stewardship responsibilities (i.e., species that typify the regional avifauna or have a large proportion of their range or population in the sub-region)
• management concerns (i.e., species that require ongoing management because of their socio-economic importance as game species, or because of their impacts on other species or habitats)
• other concerns (i.e., species deemed a priority by regional experts for other reasons than those listed above or because they are listed as species at risk or concern at the provincial level)

Select any of the sub-regions below to view the BCR strategy for additional details.

References

• Cooper, T.R., and R.D. Rau. 2014. American Woodcock Population Status, 2014. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Laurel, Maryland. 16 pp. Cooper, T.R., and R.D. Rau. 2014. American Woodcock Population Status, 2014. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Laurel, Maryland. 16 pp. (Link)
• Gendron, M.H., and A.C. Smith. 2014. National Harvest Survey web site Migratory Bird Populations Division, National Wildlife Research Centre, Canadian Wildlife Service, Ottawa, Ontario. Gendron, M.H., and A.C. Smith. 2014. National Harvest Survey web site Migratory Bird Populations Division, National Wildlife Research Centre, Canadian Wildlife Service, Ottawa, Ontario. (Link)
• Keppie, D.M. and R.M. Whiting, Jr. 1994. American Woodcock (Scolopax minor), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Keppie, D.M. and R.M. Whiting, Jr. 1994. American Woodcock (Scolopax minor), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. (Link)
• Sauer, J.R. and J.B. Bortner. 1991. Population trends from the American Woodcock singing-ground survey, 1970-88. Journal of Wildlife Management 55:300-312.