RGS

Healthy Forests, Abundant Wildlife, Conservation Ethic

You are here: Home / Archives for Woodcock

Woodcock

RGS & AWS Covers Magazine Honored with Multiple National Awards

by

RGS & AWS is proud to announce that its quarterly membership publication, Covers magazine, received multiple national recognitions in 2025, earning top honors from the APEX Awards for Publication Excellence, the Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers (AGLOW) and the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA). These awards highlight the continued excellence of Covers in delivering compelling conservation storytelling and high-quality outdoor journalism. At the 2025 APEX Awards for Publication Excellence, the Spring 2025 issue of Covers received a Grand Award, recognizing outstanding overall quality in editorial content, design and communication. The magazine also earned First Place in Publishing at the 2025 AGLOW Awards...

Read More

Viral Woodcock in Bryant Park Highlights a Serious Conservation Story Beneath the Dance Moves

by

American woodcock in Bryant Park; Rhododendrites via Wikimedia Commons A small, round-bodied bird with a long bill and a signature bobbing strut has captured the attention of millions this week as videos of an American woodcock “dancing” in New York City’s Bryant Park spread rapidly across social media. While the bird’s quirky movement has made it an overnight celebrity, wildlife experts note this moment offers something more meaningful: a rare glimpse into the demanding journey of spring migration. Each year, American woodcock travel hundreds of miles from their wintering grounds in the southern U.S. to breeding habitat across the Northeast and Upper Midwest....

Read More

MeatEater Podcast Asks: Can Ruffed Grouse and Woodcock Be Saved?

by

A recent episode of the MeatEater Podcast takes a thoughtful look at a question many upland hunters and conservationists are asking: What does the future hold for ruffed grouse and American woodcock? In Episode 845, host Steven Rinella explores the challenges facing these iconic upland birds and the landscapes they depend on. The episode also features insights from RGS & AWS VP of Conservation, Karl Malcolm, who discusses the critical role healthy, diverse forests play in sustaining grouse and woodcock populations. The conversation highlights how changes in forest age structure across the eastern U.S. have reduced the amount of early successional habitat...

Read More

How to Age And Sex American Woodcock

by

by Stefan Nelson | RGS & AWS Forest Wildlife Specialist and Sam Lau | RGS & AWS Integrated Habitat Biologist Three Ways to Determine Woodcock Gender There are several ways to determine the sex of an American woodcock, although these methods should only be used on birds at least one month old or older. For the most accurate determination of sex, it’s best to use a combination of the methods below as individual methods may sometimes be unreliable. It’s also good to remember that females are typically larger than males. Two features on the wing can be used to help determine the sex...

Read More

Here in November? The Challenges of American Woodcock Migration and Identifying Stopover Habitats in the Southeast

by

by Durrell Smith As we walked the trail into what seemed to be a never-ending mess of vines, thorns and briars, the question of traversing such nasty cover was disregarded. This was happening. Even more important to ask myself was, “Where was that last woodcock here in November?” Every year, the American woodcock undertakes a perilous migration journey, subjecting themselves to multiples challenges as they journey thousands of miles between their summer and winter ranges. As a southeastern woodcock hunter, I often think about how to better identify their stopover habitats in the Southeast. Yes, migration is a critical period in the...

Read More

Celebrating 10 Years of the American Woodcock Society

by

Photo by Tim Flanigan Why American Woodcock? Why AWS? For more than 60 years, the Ruffed Grouse Society has fervently promoted stewardship for forest wildlife. Our vision is to create landscapes of diverse, functioning ecosystems that provide habitat for wildlife and opportunities for people to experience them. Ruffed grouse drove our formation and growth, and now we’ve expanded our work in sustainable forest management to new places. Across most of their range, ruffed grouse live alongside the American woodcock, a migratory gamebird that occupies an entirely unique geography during migration – the Atlantic and Gulf Coast Piedmont and Coastal Plains. In fact, research suggests that 1 in 3 woodcock...

Read More

Join Or Renew Now