View source for Woodcock

{{Short description|Genus of birds}}
{{About|birds}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = American woodcock in Bryant Park (54062).jpg
| image_alt= Closeup of face of long-billed bird
| image_caption = [[American woodcock]]
| range_map =
| range_map_caption = 
| taxon = Scolopax
| authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]]
| type_species = ''[[Eurasian woodcock|Scolopax rusticola]]''
| type_species_authority = [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758
| diversity_link = #Species
| diversity = 8 living species
}}

The '''woodcocks''' are a group of eight very similar living [[species]] of [[sandpiper]]s in the [[genus]] '''''Scolopax'''''. The genus name is [[Latin]] for a [[snipe]] or woodcock, and until around 1800 was used to refer to a variety of waders.<ref name=job>{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 | page = 351}}</ref> The English name is first recorded in about 1050.<ref name=OED>{{Cite OED |Woodcock}}</ref> According to the [[The Harleian Miscellany|''Harleian Miscellany'']], a group of woodcocks is called a "fall".<ref>{{Cite book|last= Lipton|first= James|url= https://archive.org/details/exaltationoflark0000lipt_x7z9|url-access= registration|title=An Exaltation of Larks|date=1991|publisher=Viking|isbn=978-0-670-30044-0|language=en}}</ref>

== Taxonomy ==
The [[genus]] ''Scolopax'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist [[Carl Linnaeus]] in the [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|tenth edition]] of his ''[[Systema Naturae]]''.<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | year=1758 | title=Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | volume=1 | edition=10th | page=145 | publisher=Laurentii Salvii | location=Holmiae (Stockholm) | language=Latin | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727052 }}</ref> The genus name is [[Latin]] for a [[snipe]] or woodcock.<ref name=job/> The [[type species]] is the [[Eurasian woodcock]] (''Scolopax rusticola'').<ref>{{ cite book | editor-last=Peters | editor-first=James Lee | editor-link=James L. Peters | year=1934 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=2 | publisher=Harvard University Press | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts  | page=278 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14483091 }}</ref>

Only two woodcocks are widespread, the others being local island [[endemism|endemics]]. Most are found in the [[Northern Hemisphere]] but a few range into the [[Greater Sundas]], [[Wallacea]] and [[New Guinea]]. The closest relative of the woodcocks is the [[jack snipe]] (''Lymnocryptes minimus''), with this genus pair then to the two other [[snipe]] genera ''[[Gallinago]]'' and ''[[Coenocorypha]]''.<ref name="Černý">{{cite journal | last1=Černý | first1=David | last2=Natale | first2=Rossy | title=Comprehensive taxon sampling and vetted fossils help clarify the time tree of shorebirds (Aves, Charadriiformes) | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=177 | date=2022 | doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2022.107620 | doi-access=free | article-number=107620 | url=https://www.biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/early/2021/07/16/2021.07.15.452585.full.pdf | access-date=2025-10-02}}</ref> As with many other sandpiper genera, the lineages that led to ''Gallinago'' and ''Scolopax'' likely diverged around the [[Eocene]], some 55.8–33.9 [[million years ago]], although the genus ''Scolopax'' is only known from the late [[Pliocene]] onwards.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Avian survivors: The History and Biogeography of Palearctic Birds |last=Finlayson|first=Clive|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|year=2011|isbn=978-1-4081-3732-1 |pages=204}}</ref>

Woodcock species are known to undergo rapid [[speciation]] in island chains, with the extant examples being the [[Amami woodcock]] in the [[Ryukyu Islands]] and the several species of woodcock in the [[Indonesia]]n islands, the [[Philippines]], and New Guinea. [[Subfossil]] evidence indicates the presence of another radiation of woodcock species in the [[Greater Antilles]]; these [[Caribbean]] woodcocks may have been more closely related to the Old World woodcock species than the New World ones, and were likely wiped out by human incursion into the region.<ref name=TnS>{{Cite journal |last1=Takano |first1=Oona |last2=Steadman |first2=David W. |date=October 2015 |url=https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/museum-voices/bahamas-plants-animals/files/2014/05/15591-52091-1-PB.pdf |title=A new species of Woodcock (Aves: Scolopacidae: Scolopax) from Hispaniola, West Indies |journal=Zootaxa |volume=4032 |issue=1 |pages=117–126 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.4032.1.6 |pmid=26624342 |access-date=2018-11-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180802053152/https://www.floridamuseum.ufl.edu/museum-voices/bahamas-plants-animals/files/2014/05/15591-52091-1-PB.pdf |archive-date=2018-08-02 }}</ref>

===Species===
The genus contains eight species:<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill| editor1-first=Frank| editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist)| editor2-last=Donsker| editor2-first=David| editor3-last=Rasmussen| editor3-first=Pamela| editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen| date=July 2021| title=Sandpipers, snipes, coursers| work=IOC World Bird List Version 11.2| publisher=International Ornithologists' Union| url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/sandpipers/| access-date=17 August 2021}}</ref><ref name=Hayman/><ref name=Kennedy/>
*widespread species 
** [[American woodcock]], ''Scolopax minor'' (large [[North America]]n range)
** [[Eurasian woodcock]], ''Scolopax rusticola'' (large [[Eurasia]]n range)
*local island endemic species
** [[Amami woodcock]], ''Scolopax mira'' (endemic to the [[Amami Islands]] in [[Japan]])
** [[Bukidnon woodcock]], ''Scolopax bukidnonensis'' (endemic to [[Luzon]] and [[Mindanao]] in the [[Philippines]])
** [[Javan woodcock]], ''Scolopax saturata'' (endemic to [[Sumatra]] and [[Java]] in [[Indonesia]])
** [[New Guinea woodcock]], ''Scolopax rosenbergii'' (endemic to [[New Guinea]])
** [[Moluccan woodcock]], ''Scolopax rochussenii'' (endemic to the [[Maluku Islands]] in Indonesia)
** [[Sulawesi woodcock]], ''Scolopax celebensis'' (endemic to [[Sulawesi]] in Indonesia)

===Fossil record===
A number of woodcocks are [[extinct]] and are known only from [[fossil]] or [[subfossil]] bones.

* "Scolopax baranensis"<!-- not italicized: nomen nudum --> (fossil, Early Pliocene of Hungary; a ''[[nomen nudum]]'')<!-- Condor101:909 -->
* ''[[Scolopax carmesinae]]'' (fossil, Early/Middle Pliocene? of Menorca, Mediterranean)<!-- AnuOrnitolBalears16:3; *Condor101:909 -->
* ''[[Scolopax hutchensi]]'' (fossil, Late Pliocene – Early Pleistocene of Florida, USA)
* ''[[Scolopax anthonyi]]'' ([[Late Quaternary prehistoric birds|prehistoric]], Holocene of Puerto Rico)<!-- Condor101:909 --><ref name=TnS/>
* ''[[Scolopax brachycarpa]]'' (subfossil, Holocene of Hispaniola)

==Description and ecology==
[[File:American Woodcock Scolopax minor.jpg|thumb|alt=''Scolopax minor'' concealed in grass|[[American woodcock]]]]
Woodcocks have stocky bodies, [[crypsis|cryptic]] brown and blackish plumage, and long slender bills. Their eyes are located on the sides of their heads, which gives them 360° vision.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/647536/woodcock woodcock (bird) – Britannica Online Encyclopedia]. Britannica.com. Retrieved on 2013-03-10.</ref> Unlike in most birds, the tip of the bill's [[upper mandible]] is flexible.<ref name=Hayman/><ref name=Mousley/><ref name=McKelvie/>

As their common name implies, the woodcocks are woodland birds. They feed at night or in the evenings, searching for invertebrates in soft ground with their long bills. This habit and their unobtrusive plumage makes it difficult to see them when they are resting in the day. Most have distinctive displays known as "[[drumming (snipe)|roding]]", usually given at dawn or dusk.<ref name=Hayman/><ref name=McKelvie/><ref name=Kennedy/>

The range of breeding habits of the Eurasian woodcock extends from the west of [[Ireland]] eastwards across [[Europe]] and [[Asia]] preferring mostly [[boreal forest]] regions engulfing northern [[Japan]], and also from the northern limits of the tree zone in [[Norway]]. Continuing south to the [[Pyrenees]] and the northern limits of [[Spain]]. Nests have been found in [[Corsica]] and there are three isolated [[Atlantic]] breeding stations in [[Azores]], [[Madeira]] and the [[Canary Islands]]. In [[Asia]] the sites can be seen as far south as [[Kashmir]] and the [[Himalayas]].

==Hunting==
Some woodcocks have become popular [[gamebird]]s. The island-endemic species are often quite rare due to [[overhunting]]. The pin feathers (coverts of the leading primary feather of the wing) of the Eurasian woodcock are sometimes used by [[artist]]s as [[brush]]tips for fine painting work.<ref>{{cite book |title= The Landscape Painter's Essential Handbook |first= Joe Francis |last= Dowden |year= 2007 |isbn= 978-0-7153-2501-8 |publisher= David & Charles |location= Newton Abbot, UK |page= 7 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=gUQg0huiybkC}}</ref>

The [[English Cocker Spaniel|cocker spaniel]] dog breed is named after the bird: the dogs were originally bred to hunt the woodcock. <!-- McKelvie (1993)? -->

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name=Hayman>Hayman, Peter; Marchant, John & Prater, Tony (1986): ''Shorebirds: an identification guide to the waders of the world''. Houghton Mifflin, Boston. {{ISBN|0-395-60237-8}}</ref>
<ref name=Kennedy>{{cite journal|author1=Kennedy, Robert S. |author2=Fisher, Timothy H. |author3=Harrap, Simon C.B. |author4=Diesmos, Arvin C |author5=Manamtam, Arturo S. |name-list-style=amp |year=2001 |title=A new species of woodcock from the Philippines and a re-evaluation of other Asian/Papuasian woodcock <!--sic-->|journal=[[Forktail (journal)|Forktail]] |volume=17 |issue=1 |pages=1–12 |url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5c1a9e03f407b482a158da87/t/5c1fcaa8575d1f59f773e96f/1545587375823/Kennedy-Woodcock.pdf}}</ref>
<ref name=McKelvie>McKelvie, Colin Laurie (1993): ''Woodcock and Snipe: Conservation and Sport''. Swan Hill.</ref>
<ref name=Mousley>{{cite journal|author=Mousley, H. |year=1934|title= The earliest (1805) unpublished drawings of the flexibility of the upper mandible of the woodcock's bill|journal=[[Auk (journal)|Auk]] |volume=51|issue=3|pages= 297–301 |url=http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v051n03/p0297-p0301.pdf |doi=10.2307/4077657|jstor=4077657}}</ref>
}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Scolopax}}
{{wiktionary|woodcock}}
*[http://birdsbybent.netfirms.com/ch61-70/woodcock.html Arthur Cleveland Bent. ''Life Histories of Familiar North American Birds: American Woodcock (Scolopax minor).'' Published in 1927: Smithsonian Institution United States National Museum Bulletin 142 (Part 1): 61–78.]
* {{Internet Archive short film|id=gov.usda.woodcock|name="Woodcock Woodlands"}}

{{Scolopacidae|2}}
{{Charadriiformes|S.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q642855}}

[[Category:Scolopax| ]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1758]]
[[Category:Animal taxa named by Carl Linnaeus]]
[[Category:Wading birds]]