American Woodcock

Taxonomy

All Subspecies - none
How long has this species been in existence - at least 1050 CE (couldn’t find anything else)
Closest living relative to this species - Eurasian Woodcock
3 ancestors of this species - I couldn’t find anything. The only thing that kept showing up was the history of Woodcock as a last name

Physical description of the animal - mottled brown, tan, and grey feathers. Eyes near the back of head. Long beak. Body the shape of a melon. Darker feathers outside. Lighter feathers lower down. Legs appear further back on body
Point key characteristics of species - long bill, eyes near back of head, wobbles
Size - 25-31 cm
Weight - 116-279g
Life Span - up to eight years
Differences between Males and Females - only difference is females are bigger

How much rainfall - 18-38 in (I just looked MN, because they are found in so many place it would be hard to list everywhere)
Plants - shrubs and bushes are what they use as shelter, but deciduous and some conifer trees
Animals - deer, foxes, other birds, bears, worms
Temperature - 50-55 degrees
Terrain - softer ground, enough that they can push their beak all the way into the ground

What exactly does it eat - 50-90% of their diet are earthworms, but they will eat other underground insects if they can
How often does it eat - every day, as much as it can
How does it get its food - it sticks its long, thin beak into the ground and waits for something to go near its beak before snagging the insect and eating it
Any special foods - no

How often do they mate - once a year
How many mates do they have - males will mate with multiple females and vice versa
Time of year for mating - early spring
Mating rituals - males will make a ‘peent’ call to attract females. After that they will fly in a spiral into the air, their wings are designed to make a twittering noise as they go up. Once about 50ft in the air, the male will spiral back down, usually closer to the female. Males have been seen doing this ‘skydance’ with no females around however.
Number of offspring produced at a time - 1-5 eggs
Any unique characteristics of their mating - males do not help at all, and females will abandon nests if they are disturbed early in the nesting season

Stages of development - egg for 20-22 days, chick for 28-31 days, young adult for 10-12 months, sexually mature after 10-12 months
How old before sexual maturity - 10-12 months
Activities and environment of stages - same environment as the adults. The mother broods for a few days, but after that the chicks can feed themselves
Difference between males and females - none

Predation - birds of prey and smalls mammals — especially cats — kill the adults, snakes are most likely to prey on the eggs
Sexual Competition - none really, males don’t often get close enough to each other (they also don’t really care)
Disease - one reovirus (respiratory) around the late 1990s, and avian flu
Other causes - parasites (could not find what kind), hitting buildings, hunting

Inter-species – within the species - maybe food? Most woodcocks don’t interact with each other
Intra-species – with other species - compete with other birds and insectivores
What do they compete over - food
Effect of invasive species - invasive bugs can get rid of the Woodcock’s food, and maybe invasive birds can out hunt them?

What impacts have occurred - environmental changes, but mainly hunting right now
Potential Future impacts - loss of habitat for the bird
How long have humans been interacting with species - since humans have been living in North America
Efforts being made to minimize impacts - the making of wildlife reserves, hunting seasons and restrictions

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