Credit: Larry Bond
North American field guide
American Woodcock
Scolopax minor
Also known as:Timberdoodle
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Identification
Field notes
28 cm (11") Fairly common in Eastern North America. Moist woodlands near open fields, thickets.
Body is plump; short neck and legs; upperparts mottled with a dead-leaf pattern; underparts buffy to bright rust; very long bill; large eyes set high in large head; broadly barred crown.
Nocturnal and seldom seen until flushed; explodes with whistling wings.
Song: nasal "peent"; twittering and whistling in elaborate aerial courtship displays.
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Videos
American Woodcock
Credit: Lang Elliott's Nature ChannelAmerican Woodcock Displaying in Maine
Credit: Wild Bird and Nature Videos by McElroy ProductionsWhere it lives
Distribution maps
Source legend · original intervals
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Unshaded in source · does not imply absence
Generic and winter maps may use different intervals.