American Woodcock (Scolopax minor)

Keppie, Daniel M.; Whiting, R. Montague

doi:10.2173/tbna.100.p

Cited by 4 publications

(10 citation statements)

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“…In Rhode Island, higher shrub and sapling density, and shorter and smaller-diameter trees, characterized deciduous wetland forests and wetland young forests favored by male woodcock (Masse et al 2014). These patterns are similar to structural characteristics of woodcock diurnal coverts described in other parts of the breeding range (Rabe 1977, Hudgins et al 1985, Straw et al 1986, Keppie and Whiting 1994. Consequently, these wetland forest types may provide woodcock with similar protective cover from diurnal predators in areas where upland young forests are rare.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

“…Coniferous upland forests exerted the strongest negative effect on probability of use by woodcock, whereas we detected no significant effect of deciduous upland forest, upland young forest, and coniferous wetland forest on probability of use by woodcock. Although young upland forests typically are regarded as an important component of woodcock habitat (Keppie and Whiting 1994), these areas were uncommon at our study sites and tended to be less frequently used by male woodcock compared to some other forest types.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

“…We defined categories of relative probability of use (low ≤ 0.2446; low-moderate = 0.2447-0.3355; moderate = 0.3356-0.5802; moderate-high = 0.5803-1.2381; and high ≥ 1.2382) using geometrical interval classification (ArcGIS 10.1) and assessed the proportionality of our RSF to true probability of use following Johnson et al (2006). We retained coefficients for upland and wetland forest cover types in our best-supported RSF model regardless of statistical significance because these forest types have been shown in previous studies to be used differentially for daytime coverts (Sheldon 1967, Keppie andWhiting 1994), and because retaining these cover types during modeling of hypothetical management scenarios facilitated illustrating relative differences in probability of use by woodcock across all forest cover types in the case study area. We then simulated 3 hypothetical forest management scenarios on the study area and observed how relative probability of use by woodcock changed.…”

Section: Methods Woodcock Resource Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Woodcock routinely commute on a given day between dense stands of young forest and more sparsely vegetated forest openings at dusk and dawn (Sheldon 1961, Owen and Morgan 1975, Masse et al 2013). As a result, they spend most of their time during the breeding season in daytime feeding coverts, and these dense vegetation types are important for providing access to food and protection from diurnal predators (Keppie andWhiting 1994, Dessecker andMcAuley 2001).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Habitat Selection of American Woodcock and its Implications for Habitat Management Where Young Forests are Rare

Masse

Tefft

Buffum

et al. 2019

Proceedings of the Eleventh American Woodcock Symposium

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American woodcock (Scolopax minor; hereafter woodcock) habitat use or selection has been studied extensively since the mid-1960s; most such studies, however, have taken place when and where young forest habitat selected by woodcock was relatively common. Woodcock population declines have been mostly attributed to loss of young forest vegetation types throughout the species' range. Thus, understanding woodcock habitat selection and the benefits of habitat management in areas where young forests are rare is important in conserving woodcock and other wildlife that uses young forest. We conducted studies of male radio-tagged woodcock in Rhode Island, USA, when and where the extent of upland young forests in non-coastal areas comprised only 1.4% of the land area and was decreasing by ≥1.5% per year. We determined habitat selection of woodcock, then used the derived resource selection function to assess potential benefits of certain forest management scenarios for male woodcock and non-target birds. Landscapes comprising deciduous wetland forests, wetland young forests with nearby agricultural openings, or patches of upland young forest received relatively high use by woodcock. After integrating habitat management scenarios into GIS, our derived resource selection function suggested that creating fewer, larger patches of upland young forest and herbaceous forest openings may be less beneficial than creating more smaller patches. Openings with early-successional forest were an important component of woodcock habitat because they provided safe nighttime roost sites where mammalian predators were less active. These openings also provided habitat for a more diverse bird assemblage than unmanaged forests. Active habitat management is required to conserve woodcock populations in many landscapes, and managers should highlight the benefits of woodcock habitat management for non-target wildlife.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 83%

Section: Methods Woodcock Resource Selectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Habitat Selection of American Woodcock and its Implications for Habitat Management Where Young Forests are Rare

Masse

Tefft

Buffum

et al. 2019

Proceedings of the Eleventh American Woodcock Symposium

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“…Th e American woodcock breeds in early successional habitat throughout its range (Keppie and Whiting 1994). Typically, these young forest stands are on moist, uncompacted soils that allow the woodcock to probe for earthworms, the bird's preferred food (Steketee 2000).…”

Section: Natural Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

Multiscale habitat suitability index models for priority landbirds in the Central Hardwoods and West Gulf Coastal Plain/Ouachitas Bird Conservation Regions

Tirpak¹,

Jones-Farrand²,

Thompson³

et al. 2009

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Ecoregional conservation planning for priority landbirds requires methods that explicitly link populations to habitat conditions at multiple scales. We developed Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) models to assess habitat quality for 40 priority bird species in the Central Hardwoods and West Gulf Coastal Plain/Ouachitas Bird Conservation Regions. The models incorporated both site and landscape environmental variables derived from one of six nationally consistent datasets: ecological subsections from the National Ecological Unit Hierarchy, National Land Cover Dataset, National Elevation Dataset, National Hydrography Dataset, State Soil Geographic Database, and Forest Inventory and Analysis data. We initially defi ned potential habitat for each species from unique landform, landcover, and successional age class combinations. Species-specifi c environmental variables identifi ed from the literature were used to refi ne initial habitat estimates. We verifi ed models by comparing subsection-level HSI scores and Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) abundance via Spearman rank correlation. To validate models, we developed generalized linear models that predicted BBS abundance as a function of HSI score and Bird Conservation Region. We considered models that included a signifi cant (P ≤ 0.100) positive coefficient on the BBS predictor to be valid and useful for conservation planning.

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Foraging location quality as a predictor of fidelity to a diurnal site for adult female American woodcock Scolopax minor

Doherty

Andersen

Meunier³

et al. 2010

Wildlife Biology

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Quality of recently used foraging areas is likely an important predictor of fidelity to specific locations in the future. We monitored movement and habitat use of 58 adult female American woodcock Scolopax minor at three study areas in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, USA, during autumn 2002 and 2003, to assess the relationship between foraging habitat use decisions and environmental conditions at previously used foraging locations. We assessed whether habitat variables which related to food and weather were related to distance between locations on subsequent days of individual woodcock that choose diurnal foraging locations when they return from night‐time roosting locations. We predicted that woodcock would return to foraging locations used on the previous day (i.e. shorter distances between daily foraging locations) when environmental conditions on the prior day were favourable. Woodcock generally made short (i.e. 48% < 50 m and 91% < 400 m) between‐day movements, but also occasionally (∼ 7%) abandoned prior foraging areas. The primary determinants of woodcock movements during autumn (prior to migration) were low local food availability and potential for increased food availability elsewhere. The quality of foraging locations was an important predictor of future foraging habitat use for woodcock, consistent with the hypothesis that woodcock movement behaviour balances the risks associated with movement with the potential benefits of increased energy intake in new foraging areas.

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American Woodcock (Scolopax minor)

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

Habitat Selection of American Woodcock and its Implications for Habitat Management Where Young Forests are Rare

Habitat Selection of American Woodcock and its Implications for Habitat Management Where Young Forests are Rare

Multiscale habitat suitability index models for priority landbirds in the Central Hardwoods and West Gulf Coastal Plain/Ouachitas Bird Conservation Regions

Foraging location quality as a predictor of fidelity to a diurnal site for adult female American woodcock Scolopax minor

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