Woodcock

Canada woodcock ( Scolopax minor)

The authentics woodcock ( Scolopax ), also called woodcock, are a genus of the family of the Waders. For the genus of eight species are counted, of which only the Eurasian woodcock and snipe the Canada have a wide distribution. The other six species are restricted to Japan, New Guinea, the Philippines and Indonesia. The closest relatives of the woodcocks, the snipe ( Gallinago ).

Features

The Woodcock species are all very similar to each other. They have long, thin beaks, stocky body and a tan and black plumage, which provides a good camouflage. The eyes are located at the sides of the head, which makes them a 360 ° view. Unlike most other birds, the tip of her upper beak is flexible.

Habitat and behavior

Woodcocks are woodland dwellers. You go in the evening or at night in search of food and looking with their long beaks the ground after invertebrates from. Their way of life and their unobtrusive plumage make it hard during the day they discover to their resting places. During the reproduction phase show woodcock flashy Balzflüge, they usually perform during the evening or morning twilight.

Woodcock and human

Woodcocks are a popular hunting game. Some island species, such as the Amamiwaldschnepfe ( Scolopax mira ) and the Obischnepfe ( Scolopax rochussenii ), have become rare due to overhunting and habitat loss. The blood feathers of the woodcock are popular with artists who produce it brush tips. Blood feathers are neugewachsene springs whose keels are still supplied with blood.

Species and their distribution

  • Woodcock ( S. rusticola ) Distribution: Western Europe to Japan
  • Amamiwaldschnepfe (P. mira ) Distribution: Nansei Islands
  • New Guinea Woodcock ( S. rosenbergii ) Distribution: New Guinea
  • Malays snipe ( S. saturata ) Distribution: Sumatra and Java
  • Celebesschnepfe (p. celebensis ) Distribution: Sulawesi
  • Bukidnon Woodcock (p. bukidnonensis ) Distribution: Luzon and Mindanao, Philippines
  • Obischnepfe (p. rochussenii ) Distribution: Obi and Bacan in the northern Moluccas
  • Canada snipe ( S. minor) distribution: North America

Fossil evidence

A number of woodcock species is extinct and known only by fossil bones or subfossiles material. Due to their close relationship with the snipe, the woodcock represent a relatively young species of bird, even if the order of the Regenpfeiferartigen to which they belong, has a very primitive lineage. The genera Gallinago and Scolopax split probably before 10.5 million years Spätmiozän from each other.

The following fossil species are known:

  • Scolopax baranensis (fossil, early Pliocene, Hungary, a noun nudum )
  • Scolopax carmesinae (fossil, early and middle Pliocene, Menorca, Mediterranean)
  • Scolopax hutchensi (fossil, Late Pliocene to early Pleistocene, Florida, United States)
  • Puerto Rican Woodcock ( Scolopax anthonyi ) ( Upper Pleistocene to early Holocene, Puerto Rico)
Nomen nudum Digital Object Identifier
298517
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