The Russian word ‘waldshnep’ (woodcock came to the language in the 18th century from German, where ‘Waldschnepfe’ is formed from the words ‘Wald’ (forest) and ‘Schnepfe’ (snipe, sandpiper). The sandpiper got its name from its habitat area. Unlike most other sandpipers, the woodcock nests in dense mixed and deciduous forests, prefers damp places overgrown with alder and aspen.
This large migratory bird of the snipe family is a solitary and more often nocturnal creature. The body length of a woodcock can reach 38 centimeters, the wingspread is up to 65, the weight is up to 500 grams. The rusty-brown color with black, gray and red mottling masks the woodcock well in last year’s foliage.
Woodcocks live in the forest and forest-steppe belt of Eurasia from the Pyrenees Mountains to the Pacific coast. You can find them on the northern Solovetsky Islands and in the Volga region. They winter in Western and Southern Europe, North Africa, and the countries of Indochina. Woodcocks return to their nesting sites in the spring, at the very beginning of intense melting of snow, usually in April.
After the spring frosts, the period of the birds' courtship display, or night mating flight, begins. It is also called roding, so at this time the flight of the male becomes slow. The woodcock does not fly, but it seems like it hovers over the treetops, lowering its beak.
In the hottest part of the birds' courtship display, males hovers over the forest twice a day, at dusk after sunset and early in the morning. At the same time, the bird chirps. It makes soft melodious sounds ‘hrrr-hrrr-hr-hr’, which end with a two-syllable high-pitched whistle ‘qi-cik’, cikan.
A female hiding in the bushes at the edge of a forest clearing responds to the mating male. Hearing her whistle, the male sits down on the ground and begins to court. Tread lasts for several days, after which the male leaves the female and goes to look for the next one.
The woodcocks' courtship display in the central part of Russia lasts for about three months, from mid-April to the end of June.
After mating season, the female begins incubating. She builds a nest by herself. She lines a hole with a small number of dry blades of grass or thin twigs. The woodcock’s clutch of eggs usually consists of four grayish-white eggs with reddish and grayish mottling. The female breeds the clutch for three weeks, almost without leaving the nest. It gets food quickly at dusk. The bird sits on the nest very tightly and flies away only as a last resort. In case of danger, the chicks freeze in place and lie motionless with their open eyes.
This large migratory bird of the snipe family is a solitary and more often nocturnal creature. The body length of a woodcock can reach 38 centimeters, the wingspread is up to 65, the weight is up to 500 grams. The rusty-brown color with black, gray and red mottling masks the woodcock well in last year’s foliage.
Woodcocks live in the forest and forest-steppe belt of Eurasia from the Pyrenees Mountains to the Pacific coast. You can find them on the northern Solovetsky Islands and in the Volga region. They winter in Western and Southern Europe, North Africa, and the countries of Indochina. Woodcocks return to their nesting sites in the spring, at the very beginning of intense melting of snow, usually in April.
After the spring frosts, the period of the birds' courtship display, or night mating flight, begins. It is also called roding, so at this time the flight of the male becomes slow. The woodcock does not fly, but it seems like it hovers over the treetops, lowering its beak.
In the hottest part of the birds' courtship display, males hovers over the forest twice a day, at dusk after sunset and early in the morning. At the same time, the bird chirps. It makes soft melodious sounds ‘hrrr-hrrr-hr-hr’, which end with a two-syllable high-pitched whistle ‘qi-cik’, cikan.
A female hiding in the bushes at the edge of a forest clearing responds to the mating male. Hearing her whistle, the male sits down on the ground and begins to court. Tread lasts for several days, after which the male leaves the female and goes to look for the next one.
The woodcocks' courtship display in the central part of Russia lasts for about three months, from mid-April to the end of June.
After mating season, the female begins incubating. She builds a nest by herself. She lines a hole with a small number of dry blades of grass or thin twigs. The woodcock’s clutch of eggs usually consists of four grayish-white eggs with reddish and grayish mottling. The female breeds the clutch for three weeks, almost without leaving the nest. It gets food quickly at dusk. The bird sits on the nest very tightly and flies away only as a last resort. In case of danger, the chicks freeze in place and lie motionless with their open eyes.
