{"id":6346,"date":"2024-04-01T10:52:32","date_gmt":"2024-04-01T14:52:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/backlandscoalition.ca\/?page_id=6346"},"modified":"2024-08-28T11:46:16","modified_gmt":"2024-08-28T15:46:16","slug":"american-woodcock","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/backlandscoalition.ca\/?page_id=6346","title":{"rendered":"American Woodcock"},"content":{"rendered":"

Go To\u00a0Ground-Nesting Birds 2024<\/a>\u00a0for an Intro to this series & Links to other pages<\/p>\n

Aug 28, 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n

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American Woodcock, Lake Banook area Dartmouth<\/strong>, Photo by Josha Barss Donham 2015-04-08<\/p><\/div>\n

Say hello again to the American Woodcock! This unusual shorebird is one of 4 ground nesting birds species that we\u2019re featuring this season.<\/p>\n

The American Woodcock lives in wooded or shrubby areas where the ground is damp, and is quite distinctive: a plump chest and belly, very short legs, big dark eyes placed unusually far back on the head, and a very long beak. They are a stocky bird, about the same length as a robin but more than twice as heavy! And the females are even larger than the males.<\/p>\n

These attributes keep the bird close to the ground, able to keep watch for predators as they probe deep into the moist earth or leaf litter for their favourite food, earthworms.<\/p>\n

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Audubon Migration Map<\/a> for American Woodcock<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

The Woodcocks that migrate to the Backlands don\u2019t travel far, relocating to the southeastern United States for the winter – traveling slowly at night. In the daytime though, you might catch a Woodcock\u2019s rocking disco walk as it crosses a road or path.<\/p>\n

Help out the American Woodcock and all other ground nesting birds by keeping your rocking disco walk on the trails from March to September!<\/p>\n