Eurasian Woodcock

About the Eurasian Woodcock

The Eurasian woodcock (Scolopax rusticola) is a medium-small wading bird found in temperate and subarctic Eurasia. It has cryptic camouflage to suit its woodland habitat, with reddish-brown upperparts and buff-coloured underparts. Its eyes are set far back on its head to give it 360-degree vision and it probes in the ground for food with its long, sensitive bill, making it vulnerable to cold weather when the ground remains frozen. The male performs a courtship flight known as "roding" at dusk in spring. It is widely believed that the female will sometimes carry chicks between her legs whilst flying, though evidence of this is purely anecdotal. The world population is estimated to be 14 million to 16 million birds.

Source: Wikipedia

Classification

Scientific name

Scolopax rusticola

Family

Sandpipers and Allies

Order

Charadriiformes

Similar species

Other members of the sandpipers and allies family recorded in North America — a useful place to start if you are not certain of your identification.

• American Woodcock Scolopax minor
• Baird's Sandpiper Calidris bairdii
• Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica
• Black Turnstone Arenaria melanocephala
• Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa
• Bristle-thighed Curlew Numenius tahitiensis
• Broad-billed Sandpiper Calidris falcinellus
• Buff-breasted Sandpiper Calidris subruficollis
• Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia
• Common Redshank Tringa totanus
• Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos
• Common Snipe Gallinago gallinago