Woodcock Totally Explained

Everything about Woodcock totally explained

The woodcocks are a group of seven extant very similar wading bird species in the genus Scolopax, characterised by a long slender bill and cryptic brown and blackish plumage. Only two woodcocks are widespread, the others being localised island species. Their closest relatives are the typical snipes of the genus Gallinago (Thomas et al., 2004).
These are woodland birds which feed at night or in the evenings, searching for invertebrates in soft ground with their long bills. Unlike in most birds the tip of the upper mandible is flexible. This habit and their unobtrusive plumage makes it difficult to see them when they're resting in the day. The tiny feathers that are located at the first joint of the woodcock's wings are referred to as "pin feathers" and these are much sought after by artists for fine painting work.
Most have distinctive displays, usually given at dawn or dusk. These are birds with stocky bodies and long bills. They have eyes set on the sides of their heads, which gives them almost 360° vision.
A number of woodcocks have become extinct long ago and are known only from fossil or subfossil bones. Due to their close relationship to the Gallinago snipes, the woodcocks are a fairly young group of birds, even considering that the Charadriiformes themselves are an ancient lineage. Gallinago and Scolopax diverged probably around the Late Miocene, some 10-5 mya.

"Scolopax baranensis" (fossil, Early Pliocene of Hungary) - a nomen nudum

Scolopax carmesinae (fossil, Early/Middle Pliocene? of Menorca, Mediterranean)

Scolopax hutchensi (fossil, Late Pliocene - Early Pleistocene of Florida, USA)

Puerto Rican Woodcock, Scolopax anthonyi (prehistoric)Further Information

Get more info on 'Woodcock'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://woodcock.totallyexplained.com">Woodcock Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.