Eurasian Woodcock

Scolopax rusticola

The Eurasian woodcock is a medium-small wading bird found in temperate and subarctic Eurasia. It has cryptic camouflage to suit its woodland habitat, with reddish-brown upperparts and buff-coloured underparts. Its eyes are set far back on its head to give it 360-degree vision and it probes in the ground for food with its long, sensitive bill, making it vulnerable to cold weather when the ground remains frozen. Source

Where it is now

In the last 8 weeks this bird was recorded 16,639 times across 57 areas (each area is a 5 degree square).

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Movement and weather

Each season it is first heard regularly where daytime highs are around 9°C (typically 7 to 18°C, from 16 areas). That range is wide, so temperature alone does not explain when it turns up.

Over the weeks it was present in the past year, its centre in Europe ranged from 48°N in September to 64°N in July, about 1,800 km apart.

Arrival dates

The week it was first heard regularly in each region, after at least six weeks away. Dates differ from south to north, so a region has a range.

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Figures are effort corrected and come from automatic sound identification, which makes mistakes. How this is measured and how it compares with human observers.