Listen to the American woodcock
Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.
About the American woodcock
The American woodcock is a bird in the family Scolopacidae (order Charadriiformes). Its conservation status on the IUCN Red List is “least concern”.
What does the American woodcock sound like?
Birds produce sound with the syrinx, a vocal organ deep in the chest that can make two independent sounds at once. Songs tend to be long and patterned and are used to hold territory and attract a mate; calls are short signals for contact, alarm and flight.
The recordings here are labelled as call, peent, song, flight call and display flight. Listen for differences in rhythm, pitch and repetition – the spectrum display makes it easy to see whether a sound is a pure whistle (a thin line), a harsh call (a broad band) or a trill (rapid repeated marks).
From Wikipedia
The American woodcock (Scolopax minor), sometimes colloquially referred to as the timberdoodle, mudbat, becasse, bogsucker, brush snipe, night partridge, or Labrador twister is a small shorebird species found primarily in the eastern half of North America. Woodcocks spend most of their time on the ground in brushy, young-forest habitats, where the birds' brown, black, and gray plumage provides excellent camouflage.
The American woodcock is the only species of woodcock inhabiting North America. Although classified with the sandpipers and shorebirds in the family Scolopacidae, the American woodcock lives mainly in upland settings.
Related birds in the genus Scolopax
More from the family Scolopacidae
Common redshank
Tringa totanus
Common snipe
Gallinago gallinago
Common sandpiper
Actitis hypoleucos
Eurasian curlew
Numenius arquata
Common greenshank
Tringa nebularia
Black-tailed godwit
Limosa limosa
Eurasian whimbrel
Numenius phaeopus
Green sandpiper
Tringa ochropus
Wood sandpiper
Tringa glareola
Dunlin
Calidris alpina
Spotted redshank
Tringa erythropus
Frequently asked questions
What does an American woodcock sound like?
You can hear 5 recordings of the American woodcock on this page, including its call, peent and song. Birds produce sound with the syrinx, a vocal organ deep in the chest that can make two independent sounds at once.
Is the American woodcock endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the American woodcock as “least concern”.
What family does the American woodcock belong to?
The American woodcock (Scolopax minor) belongs to the family Scolopacidae in the order Charadriiformes.
Sources & credits
- Call · Tetzlaff Rd., Kentville, Kings County, Nova Scotia, Canada by Doug Hynes – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Peent · Bear Head Lake State Park, St. Louis, Minnesota, United… by Jonathon Jongsma – CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Call, song · Richardson Nature Center, Hennepin, Minnesota, United States by Justin Watts – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Call, flight call · Fants Grove Wildlife Management Area, Anderson County… by Tom Austin – CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Call, display flight · Cannon River Wilderness Area, Rice, Minnesota, United States by Jonathon Jongsma – CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Wikidata Q694319 – CC0
- Wikipedia: American woodcock – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo by Rhododendrites – CC BY-SA 4.0