Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
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Research looks at American woodcock behaviors
Recent findings from an American woodcock research project shed light on the migratory upland
shorebird's behaviors and landscape use in Nebraska.
Fifteen American woodcock were outfitted with satellite GPS transmitters in 2021 and 2022 in eastern and
central Nebraska and tracked over the course of the study. Among Game and Parks' discoveries:
•
Most male woodcock that migrate to Nebraska in the spring and display for mates only stay for a few
weeks. They use Nebraska sites as short-term breeding grounds and extended migration stopover sites on
their way north to forested habitats in northern Minnesota and Manitoba, Ontario.
•
Four woodcock remained in Nebraska throughout the summer and were observed using industrial-scale
irrigated agricultural fields during the day. This is unusual behavior for the species and probably was
unprecedented to the degree in which it was observed. Woodcock likely used these fields to increase their
odds of finding earthworms to eat during drought.
•
Woodcock expansion into the state likely has come at the cost of Nebraska's grasslands as the species
prefers forested habitat.
•
The research has expanded our understanding of habitat changes and ecosystem resiliency in the Great
Plains, as well as of woodcock ecology and movements outside of their core range.
The American woodcock is one of the few Nebraska species that is both a game bird and a species of
conservation concern; the Nebraska Natural Legacy Project considers it a Tier II "at-risk" species.
This recently published research was conducted by Game and Parks in partnership with Audubon Great
Plains.
Researchers
measure, band
and fit American
woodcock with GPS
transmitters in
Platte County.
