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Woodcock Ecology

Conservation Coming Soon …

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RGS & AWS is growing its conservation delivery team to improve habitat right where it’s needed most as told to Kristyn Brady This spring, RGS & AWS set out to grow its conservation delivery team in an important region for American woodcock – the Coastal Plain and Piedmont of North Carolina, South Carolina, southeastern Virginia and eastern Georgia – expanding the footprint of the organization and its habitat work based on cutting edge research. President and CEO Ben Jones sat down for a Q&A to discuss this new forest conservation director role, how hiring in a new region affirms the organization’s business model...

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Satellite Tracking and the Science of Woodcock Migration

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by Erik Blomberg, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Wildlife Fisheries and Conservation Biology, University of Maine Each year around the second week of March, I make a habit of standing in my central Maine backyard around dusk, waiting and hoping to hear the peent!s and twittering sky dance of the first male woodcock of spring. For me, the return of woodcock marks the true end of the Maine winter. Eight months later, sometime in November, my dog will point the last woodcock of the year, signaling the end of fall. I suspect I’m not the only one who uses woodcock…

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Return of the Timberdoodles

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Banding American woodcock in the spring by Bailey Peterson “The early bird gets the worm.” Obviously, whoever wrote that quote was referring to the woodcock returning to their breeding grounds in the springtime. For me, it’s one of the only things I think about as soon as the hunting season closes and, honestly, many other times during the year, too. There’s something reassuring about the arrival of the timberdoodle in the springtime – like the long-awaited homecoming of an old friend. Their reappearance marks the time when it’s usually safe to tuck the snowblower away for the year. A time when being outdoors…

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Know Your Cover – Where to Find Woodcock

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And Active Land Management for Them by Larry Partridge | RGS & AWS Lower Michigan and Eastern U.P. Forest Conservation Coordinator The American woodcock is one of our most beloved upland bird species. Prized by all types of outdoor and wildlife groups, they delight hunters (for their energetic flush) and birdwatchers (for their impressive aerial displays) alike. And, whichever camp you find yourself in, understanding the woodcock habits and habitat will greatly improve your user experience and maybe even help you to attract a fall of timberdoodles to your own piece of land. Woodcock are particular creatures and, while they can be found…

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Woodcock Banding at Pineridge Grouse Camp

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by Tom Keer Everyone knows about the five seasons in the Northwoods. There’s Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and Mud. Regular folks grumble about that last one, but not a woodcock hunter. That wet slop is everywhere when one of our favorite migratory birds returns home. When it dries, it’ll be time for courtship and raising a family. That’s when the scientific and hunting communities come together to band birds.   Woodcock banding is hardly a new activity. Pioneering efforts were initiated by Dr. George “Andy” Ammann, Sr., in the 1960s. Ammann was born in Philadelphia and raised in rural New Jersey. His…

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Stewart Makes Huge Contributions to Grouse and Woodcock During Career

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By Jeff Helsdon When Al Stewart was 12, he started woodcock hunting. Little did he imagine his passion would turn into a remarkable career. Al retired on April 1, 2021, as the State of Michigan’s Upland Game Bird Specialist and program leader. His career with Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources spanned an incredible 50 years – from student to retirement – with more than 20 as Upland Game Bird Specialist. Al made his mark in the upland bird world, not only in Michigan but continentally and internationally. It seems only natural Al came to upland game birds. His first experience with upland hunting…

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