BTO BirdFacts | Woodcock

Jump to: Other Names	Trends & Distribution	Breeding & Survival	Biometrics	Books & Links

For details point at or click the button; for sources point at the button

Page updated:16-January-2013

	Order: Charadriiformes	Family: Scolopacidae
	BTO Codes: WK, WOODC	EURING No: 5290
	Number in Britain: 78 thousand pairs (Summer)
	Conservation Status:
	UK: AMBER
	European: 3 Concern, most not in Europe; Declining
	Global: (Details)
Links to: Images Videos Sound

Status in UK: (A) Migrant/Resident Breeder, Passage/Winter Visitor
Subspecies: Monotypic
.
Length: 34 cm	Wingspan: 58 cm	Weight: M/F: 280 g

Scientific name from:	Gr.: skolopax=the woodcock and L.: rusticus=rural +colere=to dwell
World Distribution:	BREEDS: Locally in Europe & n&c Asia, WINTERS: south to n Africa & se Asia

Habitat:	Damp woodland and heath
Diet:	Earthworms, insects, esp beetles, also plant material, by probing in damp ground
TitBit:	Its beautiful plumage provides almost perfect camouflage when it is on the ground - but one feather, the pin feather (the covert of the leading primary) was used widely, both as a delicate paintbrush and as an instrument to lift small objects, such as motes of dust from people's eyes.

	Population Trend:	BirdTrends
	Regional Trends:	No regional trends available
	Distribution:	Atlas Maps

British Population Size:

Summer: 78 thousand pairs in 2003 Hoodless, A.N. et al. (2009) Bird Study 56:15-25

Winter: 1.4 million individuals in 2004-09 Note: Best estimate Musgrove, A. et al. (2011) British Birds 104:364-397

First Record: Recorded in Anglo-Saxon times Bircham, P. 2007. A history of ornithology, Collins. [805 BIR]

[Fossil evidence from early Holocene, up to 10,000 yr ago]

First Breeding Record: S England? early 1800s Brown, A. 2007. British Birds 100:214-243

Latest Survey: Hoodless, A.N. et al. (2009) Bird Study 56:15-25

Conservation Status: AMBER because Species of European Concern, Eaton, M.A. et al. 2009. British Birds 102:296-341

Previous Assessments: 2002-2007 AMBER Gregory, R.D. et al. 2002. British Birds 95:410-448

1996-2001 AMBER Gibbons, D.W. et al. 1996. RSPB Conservation Review 10:7-18

Races of Concern:

Habitat Occupancy (in the Breeding Season):

No habitat data from BBS

Migration routes: Map of foreign ringing recoveries

European Population Size:

Summer: 600 thousand to 1.6 million pairs Bufield, I. & Van Bommel, F. (2004) Birds in Europe. Birdlife International, Cambridge.

Population Assesment from Birds in Europe

Distribution in Europe mapped by the EBCC Atlas

Listed on the Appendices/Schedules of: WCA(II,III), WBD(II* & III*), Bern(III), Bonn(II), AEWA

Survey Results:	Results from BirdTrack
	Results from Woodcock Network

Breeding and Survival
Egg Size: 44 x 34 mm	Egg Weight: 26.5 g (of which 5 % is shell)

Number of Nest Records: 8
Clutch Size: 4 eggs
Incubation: 21- 24 days		by the: Female
Fledging: 15 - 20days		as: Precocial, downy

First Clutches Laid: Unavailable
Number of Broods: 1
See trends in Breeding Productivity

Number Ringed: Annual Totals
Adult Survival: 0.610
Juvenile Survival: 0.360 (in First-Year)

Age at First Breeding: 2 years	Typical Lifespan: 4 years
Maximum Recorded Age: 15 years 5 months 12 days (set in 1937)
Read a summary of Ringing Recoveries

Biometrics
Ring Size: D or E (pulli E)
Wing Length	Adult:	201.2 ± 6.4 Range 173.0 - 227.0 mm, (N = 194)
	Juvenile:	199.1 ± 6.2 Range 182.0 - 227.0 mm, (N = 217)
	Male:	201.5 ± 5.1 Range 182.0 - 213.0 mm, (N = 28)
	Female:	Insufficient Data

Weight	Adult:	325.2 ± 45.26 Range 193.0 - 439.0 g , (N =145)
	Juvenile:	307.4 ± 29.3 Range 229.0 - 397.0 . , (N =171)
	Male:	312.0 ± 59.81 Range 194.2 - 387.0 g , (N =20)
	Female:	Insufficient Data
	Seasonal:	Summer 300.2 ± 41.03 (N = 34) Autumn 301.1 ± 27.75 (N = 149) Winter 327.0 ± 29.04 (N = 2056)
	Source:	British Trust for Ornithology (2005) Ringing Scheme data

For More Information...
Books and Monographs:
Nethersole-Thompson, D. & M. 1986 Waders, their breeding, haunts and watchers Poyser, London [598.6 NET]
Hoodless, A. 1995 Studies of West Palearctic birds: Eurasian Woodcock British Birds 88:578-591
Ferrand, Y. (ed) 2006 Sixth European Woodcock and Snipe Workshop (IWS 13) Wetlands International, Wageningen [598.61 FER]

See Also:
Find scientific papers on Google Scholar or Scirus by clicking the icon
Wikipedia entry
BirdLife species page
Recent sightings and information from BirdGuides
Read State of the Nations Birds by Chris Mead

BirdFacts