The American woodcock is generally considered an upland game bird, although it is placed in the sandpiper family by ornithologists. Unlike sandpipers, it inhabits the deep bottomlands, swales, alder thickets, and wet meadows near forests—anywhere they might find earthworms, their favored food. 

     The woodcock’s two dominant features are its large eyes and long bill. It’s a plump bird with big eyes, rounded wings with the first three primary feathers being very narrow. It measures about 10 or 11 inches in length with the females being larger and having a longer bill.

     Another similar sandpiper family member is the common snipe, more of a lowland marsh bird, which inhabits marshy flats or wet meadows in open land. It too has a long bill but smaller eyes and is not as stocky as the woodcock.

     It is also known as wood snipe, timberdoodle and big eyes. Its eyes are set high on its head, enabling it to see behind it, much like a rabbit. The woodcock’s under parts are a pale brown or buffy cinnamon, while its upper parts are patterns of brown, gray, russet and dark browns—perfect camouflage for setting in leaves on the forest floor, especially during nesting. It has a white eye ring and a dark crown marked with white or buffy lines.

     The woodcock has one of the most curious of courtship rituals of all birds. In March or April, shortly after sunset during the afterglow, the male flies up into the air anywhere from 60 to 300 feet, “twittering” as it ascends. He then levels off and begins his descent, fluttering and zig-zagging downward, chirping as he drops all the way to a spot on the ground. Here he struts about proudly uttering a sound best described as “peent.” The act is referred to as “peenting” and the places they do it are called “peenting” grounds.

     Woodcocks breed over most of the Eastern United States with the heaviest concentrations in New Brunswick, Maine and Michigan. Once paired off, the female builds a nest on the forest floor near or under branches of shrubs or small trees. The nest is a slight depression where three to four eggs are laid. Incubation takes about 21 days and after the young hatch they grow rapidly. They are flying in a couple of weeks and are full-grown in 25 days. 

     Because of their preference for earthworms, woodcock are found mainly in moist, rich bottomlands and short grass meadows. They stay quietly in the shadows during the day until evening when they come out to feed. Because of this, woodcock are apt to inhabit areas not suspected, and are usually seen only by those who are seeking them. One way you can know the woodcock has been around is the drill holes in the mud or whitewash-like droppings on the leaves. They have long bills with flexible tips with which they can feel, open the tip while in the ground and “pinch,” worms then pull them out.

     Woodcock winter all along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, especially in Louisiana. Many migrate through Virginia from October through December. Many of them winter here, especially at the southern tip of Eastern Shore. The first hard freeze forces woodcock to head south. Since their main food is earthworms they have to go where the food is, and they can be vulnerable to drought or freezing weather.

     The cocker spaniel was originally bred to hunt woodcocks and was known as the “woodcocker.” When flushed, woodcocks normally flush straight up on fluttery wing beats, before leveling off over shrubs or trees.
Recent surveys indicate a gradual long-term decline in woodcock breeding populations. Biologists believe that the gradual loss of habitat is the primary cause for this decline. Even those small wood lots near creeks and streams so attractive as subdivisions are often the last remnants of good woodcock habitat in populated areas. I know of one area in Western Henrico County that hosted the woodcock’s sky dance each spring. It is now a complex of little league baseball and soccer fields.

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