The Woodcock is a most unusual wader. Beautifully its plumage provides it with a beautiful camouflage: finely streaked and speckled, matches the browns, russets greys and blacks of the leaf litter on the woodland floor. Its eyes are high up on the head, affording the bird an all-round field of vision. Legs are short and pinkish. Woodcocks are crepuscular and nocturnal and feed using their straight long and sensitive bill to probe the ground for invertebrates: earthworms, beetles, snails and larvae. During the day, they sit motionless relying on their camouflage for anti-predator defence. They will leave woodland to feed on fields at night during the winter.
The Woodcock is a regular migrant and scarce wintering bird in Hull. Records are from mid October to the beginning of April, with spring migration peaking in March and Autumn migration peaking in November. During migration it is most likely to be seen in flight, and it can turn up anywhere in Hull.Unfortunately, it is not unusual for birds to collide with building windows during migration. Woodcocks have a distinctive flight silhouette: a dumpy bird with short wings and a long bill, pointing down. During the winter it may settle in wooded areas such as cemeteries, parks and hedgerows in the outskirts.
Conservation and Management
The Woodcock moved from Amber to Red listed in 2015 due to strong population declines. Most of our migrating and wintering Woodcocks are European birds coming for the winter. Repeated specific Woodcock breeding surveys carried out by the BTO suggest a 35% decline in displaying males between 2003 and 2023. The breeding population appears to have also contracted in range. The causes for the decline are unclear.
More information
BTO Bird facts. Woodcock.
Broughton, R.K. 2002. Birds of the Hull area.
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