Woodcock - Scolopax rusticola

Alternative names
Eurasian Woodcock
Description

About the size of a pigeon and looking like a large Snipe, the Woodcock is a bulky wading bird with short legs and a very long straight tapering bill. 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. It is largely nocturnal, spending most of the day in dense cover.

Identification difficulty
Habitat

It can be found in suitable habitat in summer throughout the UK, except for south-west England. In winter, birds are widespread in lowland areas. The breeding habitat is large, unfragmented areas of broadleaved deciduous or mixed broadleaved and coniferous forest, with dense undergrowth. The breeding population has been falling recent years as conifer plantations become too mature for Woodcocks to find open enough breeding areas.

When to see it

All year round. Most of the birds in the UK are residents; in the autumn birds move to the UK from Finland and Russia to winter here. They are most active at dawn and dusk (crepuscular) and rarely active during the day unless flushed, when they fly off with a whirring wing noise. When disturbed from its resting place, it flies off, zigzagging between the trees and dropping back into cover.

UK Status

12,500 breeding pairs.

VC55 Status

Uncommon resident breeder and fairly common winter visitor

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015

UK Map

Species profile

Common names
Woodcock, Eurasian Woodcock
Species group:
Birds
Kingdom:
Animalia
Order:
Charadriiformes
Family:
Scolopacidae
Records on NatureSpot:
55
First record:
16/11/1996 (Ian Retson)
Last record:
24/02/2024 (Leonard, Pete)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

10km squares with records

The latest images and records displayed below include those awaiting verification checks so we cannot guarantee that every identification is correct. Once accepted, the record displays a green tick.

In the Latest Records section, click on the header to sort A-Z, and again to sort Z-A. Use the header boxes to filter the list.

Latest images

Latest records