American woodcock (Scolopax minor)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CONFIRMATION STATUS: Confirmed.

 

IDENTIFICATION:

• Length: 8.25 inches

• Dumpy, short-legged, short-tailed, rounded-winged shorebird

• Explosive takeoff when flushed, wings make twittering sound in                flight

• Very long bill

• Very large, dark eye set high in head

• Buff-brown head, breast and belly buff to pale cinnamon

• Black nape crossed by pale lines

• Dark eyeline and auricular stripe

• Gray-brown back, with black and chestnut feathering interspersed bet-      ween two pale Vs

• Upperwings reddish-brown; underwings brown, with rusty wing              linings

• Rusty rump; dark rectrices tipped gray/white

• Found in woodlands and shrubby fields

• Sexes similar

• Juvenile similar to adult

Similar species:

Common Snipe is more slender and browner, without the crossbars on
nape. In flight, the common snipe has much more pointed wings.

 

LIFE HISTORY

Migration Status: Short distance migrant
Breeding Habitat: Successional-scrub
Nest Location: N/A
Nest Type: N/A
Clutch Size: 4
Length of Incubation: 20-21 days
Days to Fledge: 14
Number of Broods: 1
Diet: Almost exclusively worms, insects; lesser quantities of seeds

 

SKY MEADOWS DISTRIBUTION/SEASONAL OCCURRENCE

 

Relative abundance and seasonal occurrence are indicated in red below.

 

Relative abundance
     C - Common: Likely to be present in good numbers in appropriate habitat and season.
     U - Uncommon: May be present in appropriate habitat and season, often in low
            numbers.
     O - Occassional: Found in appropriate habitat perhaps only a few times per season,
            sometimes low numbers.
     R - Rare: May not be recorded every year.
     Acc - Accidental: Recorded once or twice, may not be expected again for a long time.

 

Seasonal Occurrence
      Sp - Spring: March, April, May C
      Su - Summer: June, July, August O
      Fall: September, October, November R

      Winter: December, January, February

 

 

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