American Woodcock - BirdForum Opus

Photo by Charlie M
Central Park, New York, USA, March 2004

Scolopax minor

Identification

25-31 cm (9¾-12 in)
Extremely large bill with large bulging eyes placed high on head. Leaflike camouflage pattern, broadly barred crown.

Distribution

	Breeding range from Minnesota, southern Manitoba, and southern Ontario east to Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and south to northeastern Texas east to Georgia. Winters in southeastern Texas to northern and central Florida. Rare to accidental vagrant west and north of range.
	Legend • S. minor; breeding • S. minor; year-round • S. minor; wintering Maps/Texts consulted1,2,3

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species^[4].

Habitat

Decidious, damp woods.

Behaviour

Rises vertically when flushed.

Diet

Their main diet consists of earthworms, supplemented with beetles, snails, centipedes and millipedes.

References

1. Sibley, DA. 2000. The Sibley Guide to Birds. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. ISBN 978-0679451228
2. Keppie, D. M. and R. M. Whiting, Jr. 1994. "American Woodcock (Scolopax minor)." The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/100.
3. Brinkley, ES. 2007. Field Guide to Birds of North America. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. ISBN 978-1402738746
4. Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2014. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: Version 6.9., with updates to August 2014. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) American Woodcock. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 19 April 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/American_Woodcock

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