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American Woodcock

Scolopax minor ORDER: CHARADRIIFORMES FAMILY: SCOLOPACIDAE

IUCN Conservation Status: Least Concern

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A shorebird that lives in forests, the American Woodcock is most frequently encountered at dusk when the male's chirping, peenting aerial displays attract attention. Otherwise the superbly camouflaged bird is difficult to discover on the forest floor where it probes for earthworms.

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Calls

  • Calls
  • Courtesy of Macaulay Library
    © Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Silent except for male display and twittering of wings in flight. Display involves wing twittering interspersed with harsh "peents."

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Search the Macaulay Library online archive for more sounds and videos