Woodcock
Encyclopedia
The woodcocks are a group of seven or eight very similar living species
of wading
bird
s in the genus
Scolopax. Only two woodcocks are widespread, the others being localized island endemics. Most are found in the Northern Hemisphere
but a few range into Wallacea
. Their closest relatives are the typical snipe
s of the genus Gallinago
.
Woodcocks have stocky bodies, cryptic
brown and blackish plumage and long slender bills. Their eyes are located on the sides of their heads, which gives them 360° vision. Unlike in most birds, the tip of the bill's upper mandible is flexible.
As their common name implies, the woodcocks are woodland birds. They feed at night or in the evenings, searching for invertebrates in soft ground with their long bills. This habit and their unobtrusive plumage makes it difficult to see them when they are resting in the day. Most have distinctive displays known as "roding", usually given at dawn or dusk.
All woodcocks are popular gamebirds; the island endemic species are often quite rare already due to overhunting. The pin feathers of the woodcock are much esteemed as brush
tips by artist
s, who use them for fine painting work. The pin feather is the covert of the leading primary feather of the wing.
or subfossil
bones. Due to their close relationship to the Gallinago
snipe
s, the woodcocks are a fairly young group of birds, even considering that the Charadriiformes
themselves are an ancient lineage. Gallinago and Scolopax diverged probably around the Late Miocene
some 10-5 million years ago.
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of wading
Wader
Waders, called shorebirds in North America , are members of the order Charadriiformes, excluding the more marine web-footed seabird groups. The latter are the skuas , gulls , terns , skimmers , and auks...
bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s in the genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Scolopax. Only two woodcocks are widespread, the others being localized island endemics. Most are found in the Northern Hemisphere
Northern Hemisphere
The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of its equator—the word hemisphere literally means “half sphere”. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator...
but a few range into Wallacea
Wallacea
Wallacea is a biogeographical designation for a group of Indonesian islands separated by deep water straits from the Asian and Australian continental shelves. Wallacea includes Sulawesi, the largest island in the group, as well as Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba, Timor, Halmahera, Buru, Seram, and...
. Their closest relatives are the typical snipe
Snipe
A snipe is any of about 25 wading bird species in three genera in the family Scolopacidae. They are characterized by a very long, slender bill and crypsis plumage. The Gallinago snipes have a nearly worldwide distribution, the Lymnocryptes Jack Snipe is restricted to Asia and Europe and the...
s of the genus Gallinago
Gallinago
Gallinago is a genus of birds in the wader family Scolopacidae, containing 16 species. This genus contains the majority of the world's snipe species, the other three extant genera being Coenocorypha, with two species, and Lymnocryptes, the Jack Snipe. Morphologically, they are all similar, with a...
.
Description, ecology and use by humans
Crypsis
In ecology, crypsis is the ability of an organism to avoid observation or detection by other organisms. It may be either a predation strategy or an antipredator adaptation, and methods include camouflage, nocturnality, subterranean lifestyle, transparency, and mimicry...
brown and blackish plumage and long slender bills. Their eyes are located on the sides of their heads, which gives them 360° vision. Unlike in most birds, the tip of the bill's upper mandible is flexible.
As their common name implies, the woodcocks are woodland birds. They feed at night or in the evenings, searching for invertebrates in soft ground with their long bills. This habit and their unobtrusive plumage makes it difficult to see them when they are resting in the day. Most have distinctive displays known as "roding", usually given at dawn or dusk.
All woodcocks are popular gamebirds; the island endemic species are often quite rare already due to overhunting. The pin feathers of the woodcock are much esteemed as brush
Brush
A brush is a tool with bristles, wire or other filaments, used for cleaning, grooming hair, make up, painting, surface finishing and for many other purposes. It is one of the most basic and versatile tools known to mankind, and the average household may contain several dozen varieties...
tips by artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
s, who use them for fine painting work. The pin feather is the covert of the leading primary feather of the wing.
Species
The following species of woodcocks are extant today:- Eurasian WoodcockEurasian WoodcockThe 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...
, Scolopax rusticola (large Eurasian range) - Amami WoodcockAmami WoodcockThe Amami Woodcock, Scolopax mira, is a medium sized wader. It is slightly larger and longer-legged than Eurasian Woodcock, and may be .This species is a Restricted-range endemic found only in forests on two small islands of the Amami Islands chain in South Japan. Insofar as its habits are known,...
, Scolopax mira (endemic to islands in Japan) - Bukidnon WoodcockBukidnon WoodcockThe Bukidnon Woodcock, Scolopax bukidnonensis, is a medium sized wader. It was only described as new to science as recently as 2001, although the initial specimens had been collected on Luzon in the 1960s, these were originally misidentified as Eurasian Woodcock specimens...
, Scolopax bukidnonensis (endemic to islands in the Philippines) - Dusky WoodcockDusky WoodcockThe Dusky Woodcock or Rufous Woodcock, Scolopax saturata, is a small wader. It is smaller than Eurasian Woodcock, and has much darker plumage....
, Scolopax saturata (endemic to islands in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea)- New Guinea Woodcock, Scolopax (saturata) rosenbergii
- Sulawesi WoodcockSulawesi WoodcockThe Sulawesi Woodcock, Scolopax celebensis, also known as Celebes Woodcock, is a medium sized wader. It is larger and darker than Eurasian Woodcock but with small reddish spots....
, Scolopax celebensis (endemic to an island in Indonesia) - Moluccan WoodcockMoluccan WoodcockThe Moluccan Woodcock , also known as Obi Woodcock, is a medium-sized, approximately 40 cm long, forest wader with long and dark bill, orange buff below and black barred upperparts. The plumage is marked with large buff spots...
, Scolopax rochussenii (endemic to islands in Indonesia) - American WoodcockAmerican WoodcockThe American Woodcock , sometimes colloquially referred to as the Timberdoodle, is a small chunky shorebird species found primarily in the eastern half of North America...
, Scolopax minor (large North American range)
Fossil record
A number of woodcocks are extinct and are known only from fossilFossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
or subfossil
Subfossil
Subfossil refers to remains whose fossilization process is not complete, either for lack of time or because the conditions in which they were buried were not optimal for fossilization....
bones. Due to their close relationship to the Gallinago
Gallinago
Gallinago is a genus of birds in the wader family Scolopacidae, containing 16 species. This genus contains the majority of the world's snipe species, the other three extant genera being Coenocorypha, with two species, and Lymnocryptes, the Jack Snipe. Morphologically, they are all similar, with a...
snipe
Snipe
A snipe is any of about 25 wading bird species in three genera in the family Scolopacidae. They are characterized by a very long, slender bill and crypsis plumage. The Gallinago snipes have a nearly worldwide distribution, the Lymnocryptes Jack Snipe is restricted to Asia and Europe and the...
s, the woodcocks are a fairly young group of birds, even considering that the Charadriiformes
Charadriiformes
Charadriiformes is a diverse order of small to medium-large birds. It includes about 350 species and has members in all parts of the world. Most Charadriiformes live near water and eat invertebrates or other small animals; however, some are pelagic , some occupy deserts and a few are found in thick...
themselves are an ancient lineage. Gallinago and Scolopax diverged probably around the Late Miocene
Late Miocene
The Late Miocene is a sub-epoch of the Miocene Epoch made up of two stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch....
some 10-5 million years ago.
- "Scolopax baranensis" (fossil, Early Pliocene of Hungary; a nomen nudumNomen nudumThe phrase nomen nudum is a Latin term, meaning "naked name", used in taxonomy...
) - Scolopax carmesinae (fossil, Early/Middle Pliocene? of Menorca, Mediterranean)
- Scolopax hutchensi (fossil, Late Pliocene - Early Pleistocene of Florida, USA)
- Puerto Rican Woodcock, Scolopax anthonyi (prehistoricLate Quaternary prehistoric birdsPrehistoric birds are various taxa of birds that became extinct before recorded history, or more precisely, before they could be studied alive by bird scientists...
)