Woodcock

woodcock: see snipe.

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woodcock

Any of five species (family Scolopacidae) of plump, sharp-billed migratory birds of damp, dense woodlands in North America, Europe, and Asia. With eyes set far back on the head, a woodcock has a 360° field of vision. The buffy-brown, mottled plumage provides camouflage. A solitary bird, most active at dusk, it drums its feet to coax earthworms to the surface and then extracts them with its long, forceps-like bill; it may eat twice its weight in worms each day. The female American woodcock (Scolopax,or Philohela, minor) is about 11 in. (28 cm) long; the male is slightly smaller. The male's striking courtship display includes a long, repeated spiraling and dropping sequence. Woodcocks have been popular game birds.

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woodcock

1. an Old World game bird, Scolopax rusticola, resembling the snipe but larger and having shorter legs and neck: family Scolopacidae (sandpipers, etc.), order Charadriiformes

2. a related North American bird, Philohela minor

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Woodcock 

(Scolopax rusticóla), a bird of the family Scolopacidae, order Charadriiformes. The upper part of the body is rusty red with dark spots; the lower part is reddish gray with cross stripes. The bill is long. Length of the body, 34-38 cm; weight, 270-350 g.

The woodcock is widespread in Europe and Asia. In the USSR it is found in the north up to 60°-64° N lat, and in the south to the forest-steppe zone. It winters in southern Europe, Transcaucasia, Middle and South Asia, and North Africa. The woodcock stays in humid mixed and deciduous forests. Propagation begins in April. The nest is on the ground, with four eggs per clutch; only the female broods the young. Food (earthworms and insect larvae) is taken from the soil and the forest floor. The woodcock is hunted for sport.

REFERENCE

Kozlova, E. V. “Kuliki.” In Fauna SSSR: Ptitsy, vol. 2, issue 1, part 2. Moscow-Leningrad, 1961.