American Woodcock
Learn to identify the American Woodcock by ear. Master the "nasal peent, twittering sky dance" phrase and tell it apart from similar species.
What the American Woodcock sounds like
At dusk, a male gives nasal peents from the ground, then spirals upward in display. Chirping notes and musical wing sounds build during the climb before his zigzagging descent.
How to tell it apart
Lessons featuring the American Woodcock
Ready to test your ear? Practice identifying the American Woodcock's sounds in this interactive in-app lesson.
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Where you'll hear it
American Woodcocks breed across the eastern and north-central U.S. and southern Canada, then many move south for winter. Some stay year-round in the Mid-Atlantic and parts of the Southeast where the ground does not freeze hard.
Look for it in young forests, brushy thickets, alder swales, and damp woodland edges with soft soil. It needs cover overhead and moist ground below.
Spring is the big show: males give their buzzy peent from the ground and then spiral into display flights at dusk. In fall, they slip south mostly at night, and in winter they keep to dense, damp cover.
How to recognize it by sight
This chunky little shorebird traded beaches for damp woods. In the half-light, it waddles through leaf litter on short legs, bill probing for earthworms, then at dusk the male rockets into the sky for one of spring’s oddest courtship dances.
Similar species
Wilson's Snipe
Slimmer and longer-necked, with a more elongated look.
Common Snipe
Very similar overall, but American Woodcock is chunkier, warmer brown, and more woodland-loving.
Whimbrel
Much larger, with long legs and a distinctly downcurved bill.