The woodcock is a migratory bird which has a pronounced taste – it is written in its little name – for forests, although it also appreciates open environments in the surrounding area. Discreet and little observed, let’s discover together a species that is still little-known but which has its place among us.
The ordinary biodiversity feathered is also present in the woods. But our forests are fragile ecosystems which, when exploited, have a life cycle limited in time, whereas the animals would live there generation after generation towards infinity and beyond… Let’s talk here about a bird from our forests, woodcock!
The woodcock, a small wading bird with a long, rather discreet beak
The woodcock (Scolopax rusticola) is a migratory bird whose diet is mainly composed of earthworms which represent 80% of their energy intake. However, it adds to its menu, myriapods (“thousand legs”), molluscs and other insects, which is not without giving it a important place in the balance of ecosystems.
The woodcock is made to blend into its environment © FJAH
Mainly forest species, the woodcock is common deciduous forests and mixed forests with a preference for cool, moist soils. Due to its diet, it particularly likes the edges of woods, where it can easily find larvae and earthworms which it loves.
Particularities of the woodcock
The male becomes sexually mature at the age of one year knowing that the life expectancy of this species is on average 1.25 years.
Nesting takes place from mid-February to August in a nest made on the ground! Incubation, ensured by the brooding of the female alone, lasts 22 days. What follows is a very rapid growth of young people who try their first flights from the age of 20 days.
Given their lifestyle on the ground, the survival rate of woodcocks less than a year old is only 34%…
Current status of the species
The species is huntable in France from the general opening of the xhasse until February 20. The departments can then set up daily or annual quotas with an obligation to complete a specific logbook, and a maximum authorized harvest of 30 birds per season and per hunter.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and BirdLife International consider the species vulnerable in winter and of “least concern” the rest of the year.
Threats facing the woodcock
The status of woodcock populations is not knownthe counts are not carried out and are relatively complex due to the lifestyle of the species. Without monitoring the workforce, it is all the more difficult to know the threats weighing on it.
The hunt
A fact rare enough to be mentioned, even a good portion of hunters tend to say that hunting pressure on the species is too high.
They are in fact approximately 1,000,000 woodcocks are shot each year in France for a total of 4,000,000 throughout Europe, even though, as we saw above, the survival rate of the species is very low.
A hunter proud of her trophy © mmpixel91
With such hunting harvests, it is entirely legitimate to say that the decline of the species could be brutal if other problems (cold waves, etc.) were added to the number of animals shot.
The scarcity of their environment
The loss of woodcock habitat is often discussed as a threat to the species. As with so many other animals, it is entirely plausible that the reduction in the area of suitable forests and permanent hay meadows is a cause of a reduction in numbers over time.
The use of chemicals and cultural techniques
Not content with always being relevant, chemical control is still on the rise in France (and elsewhere). The volumes consumed are still impressive even though their direct impact on soil life is increasingly known to be negative.
L’Agricultural Observatory of Biodiversity accumulating data on “earthworm” surveys continues to demonstrate how much this soil fauna is impacted by the use of chemicals but also by cultural techniques.
Direct seeding and other no-till techniques have widely demonstrated how they favor the presence of earthworms on site: perhaps it is time to integrate the implementation of these techniques as being favorable to the species, while limiting the use of phytosanitary products ?
How to help the woodcock
As with all biodiversity, ordinary or not, participate in its observation, transmit your knowledge particularly to young audiences and support wildlife protection associations and all organizations that work towards preservation of ecosystems are all essential actions.
In the case of the woodcock, it is, to give it a paw, of take a look at what he decides about him in the world of huntingwhile getting closer to bird defense associations such as the LPO (Bird Protection League).
The woodcock is not a species in difficulty, let’s all work together to ensure that this remains a reality in the long term!
Article updated
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