American woodcock

Scolopax minor · The American woodcock is a small, camouflaged shorebird that lives mostly in brushy, young forests in the eastern half of North America.

Also called Timberdoodle, Bogsucker, Becasse, Brush snipe, Labrador twister.

American woodcock
Photo: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0
American woodcock
Photo: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0
American woodcock
Photo: Baetsen, Richard, Public domain

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassAves
OrderCharadriiformes
FamilyScolopacidae
GenusScolopax
SpeciesScolopax minor

Where it lives

Young forests and fields of eastern Canada and the eastern US.

Fun facts

  • The woodcock's visual field is probably the largest of any bird, covering 360° horizontally and 180° vertically, thanks to big eyes set high on its head.
  • A woodcock can open and close the tip of its upper bill while the bill is buried in the ground, which helps it grab slippery earthworms.
  • The slowest flight speed ever recorded for any bird, just 5 mph (8 km/h), was recorded for the American woodcock.
  • During courtship, a male's spiralling flight makes a melodious twittering sound as air rushes through his outer wing feathers.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).