American Woodcock (Scolopax minor)
- HABITAT - Preferred woodcock summer habitat consists of young, densely growing hardwood trees rooted in moist soil that supports ample numbers of earthworms, the birds' primary food. On the southern wintering range, woodcock use a number of different habitats, including old fields, wet thickets, mixed pine and hardwoods forests.
- DIET - American Woodcocks eat earthworms and other invertebrates they find in the soil, including snails, millipedes, spiders, flies, beetles, and ants.
- FACTS - Watching the male woodcock doing his elaborate courting ritual is a rare treat. They normally perform under the cover of darkness, first on the ground and then, more spectacularly, in the air. Just at dusk, they still may be visible. However, even hearing them is just as exciting.
