Bird

American Woodcock

Scolopax minor

Names as given by USGS GAP.

Year-round and summer in Virginia, breeding, in the USGS range maps. Its habitat models include 14 habitats found here.

Seasons here: Year-round and summer
Breeding: Breeding
Range: 77 of 133 counties
Habitats: 14

Adult American Woodcock, whole bird — **Adult**. no rights reserved. CC0. iNaturalist photo 475105301. iNaturalist large derivative; no local crop or retouch.

At a glance

Group: Birds
Seasons in Virginia: Year-round and summer
Breeding: Breeding
Counties in known range: 77 of 133
Habitat models: Summer, Winter

Where it lives

Southeast habitat models (USGS, 2001 land cover). The bird is not in every place a habitat occurs. USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models Summer model Winter model

Habitats in Virginia 14

Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there. Shared habitat, not food.

1 of 14

Summer and winterDisturbed/Successional - Shrub Regeneration; Successional Shrub/Scrub (Other); Harvested Forest - Shrub RegenerationNamed place / source context. Shown: Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Georgia and Tennessee; which part is not recorded, a neighboring state.Wooded scene looking out over partially open fields, Richard Schlecht, undated. Public domain. Source record.

Summer and winterAppalachian Hemlock-Hardwood ForestRegional / representative. Shown: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee; representative habitat composite, not a documented exact viewpoint, a neighboring state.Hemlock forest / rocky mountain stream, Hynes, Robert 'Bob', by 2012. Public domain. Source record.

Summer and winterSouthern Piedmont Mesic Forest; Southern and Central Appalachian Cove Forest; South-Central Interior Mesophytic Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood and Mixed ForestRegional / representative. Shown: Mountains of North and South Carolina; exact site not identified, a neighboring state.Shortia beneath rhododendrons in mountain woodland, Marian Ellis Rowan, 1901. Public domain. Source record.

Summer and winterNorthern hardwood forest in winter. Shown: Baxter Creek Trail near Mount Sterling, Haywood County, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Frozen northern hardwood forest, Baxter Creek Trail, Brian Stansberry, undated. CC BY 3.0. Source record.

Summer and winterCentral Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and FlatwoodsWet pine flatwoods with a shrub layer. Shown: Shaken Creek Preserve, Pender and Onslow Counties, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Wet Pine Flatwoods, Shaken Creek Preserve - typical shrub layer, Robert Thornhill, undated. CC BY 4.0. Source record.

Summer and winterCentral Atlantic Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and FlatwoodsSandy pine savanna. Shown: Shaken Creek Preserve, Pender and Onslow Counties, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Sandy Pine Savanna, Rush Featherling subtype, Robert Thornhill, undated. CC BY 4.0. Source record.

SummerSouthern and Central Appalachian Cove ForestRegional / representative. Shown: Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee; representative habitat composite, not a documented exact viewpoint, a neighboring state.Cove hardwood forest, Hynes, Robert 'Bob', by 2012. Public domain. Source record.

Summer and winterCentral Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; South-Central Interior Small Stream and RiparianNamed place / source context. Shown: Watauga Falls, North Carolina, a neighboring state.Watauga Falls, Illustrator/engraver not confidently attributed; reproduced in Zeigler and Grosscup, The Heart of the Alleghanies (1883), 1883. Public domain. Source record.

Summer and winterAtlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Taxodium/Nyssa ModifierNamed place / source context. Shown: Great Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, as titled by Museum of Fine Arts Boston; nineteenth-century artistic interpretation, a neighboring state.View, Dismal Swamp, North Carolina, Regis Francois Gignoux, 1850. Public domain. Source record.

Dry forests and woodlands

Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.

Summer and winterCentral and Southern Appalachian Montane Oak Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest; Northern Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry Hardwood Forest; Central Appalachian Oak and Pine Forest; Central Appalachian Pine-Oak Rocky Woodland

Floodplain and bottomland forests

Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.

Summer and winterAtlantic Coastal Plain Blackwater Stream Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Central Appalachian Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Central Appalachian Riparian - Forest Modifier; South-Central Interior Large Floodplain - Forest Modifier; Southern Piedmont Large Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier; Central Interior and Appalachian Floodplain Systems; Central Interior and Appalachian Riparian Systems; Southern Piedmont Small Floodplain and Riparian Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Brownwater River Floodplain Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Brownwater Stream Floodplain Forest; South-Central Interior Small Stream and Riparian

Hardwood and oak flatwoods

Flat, poorly drained uplands and terraces with oaks, sweetgum and sometimes loblolly pine, wet in winter and dry in summer, but neither a floodplain nor a swamp.

Summer and winterAtlantic Coastal Plain Nonriverine Swamp and Wet Hardwood Forest - Oak Dominated Modifier

Moderately dry forests

Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.

Summer and winterSouthern and Central Appalachian Oak Forest; Atlantic Coastal Plain Dry and Dry-Mesic Oak Forest

Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Ground opened by people: roadsides, old fields, pastures, fencerows and lots.

WinterCultivated Cropland; Pasture/Hay; Disturbed/Successional - Grass/Forb Regeneration; Utility Swath - Herbaceous; Ruderal Upland - Old Field

Other habitats in its models (64)

Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Virginia.

East Gulf Coastal Plain Limestone Forest Winter
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Hardwood Modifier Winter
Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Winter
East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Herbaceous Modifier Winter
Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Winter
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Winter
Crosstimbers Oak Forest and Woodland Winter
North-Central Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest and Woodland Summer
North-Central Interior Maple-Basswood Forest Summer
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Bluff Forest Winter
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loess Bluff Forest Winter
Southern Coastal Plain Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Winter
Central and South Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Summer and winter
West Gulf Coastal Plain Chenier and Upper Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Summer and winter
Mississippi River Alluvial Plain Dry-Mesic Loess Slope Forest Winter
East-Central Texas Plains Post Oak Savanna and Woodland Summer and winter
East-Central Texas Plains Riparian Forest Summer and winter
Lower Mississippi River Dune Woodland and Forest Winter
West Gulf Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood Forest Summer and winter
East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Mesic Hardwood Forest Winter
East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Mesic Slope Forest Winter
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Hardwood Modifier Winter
East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Woodland Modifier Winter
West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Forest Summer and winter
Acadian Low-Elevation Spruce-Fir-Hardwood Forest Summer
West Gulf Coastal Plain Sandhill Oak and Shortleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Summer and winter
East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Winter
Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland Summer and winter
Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Winter
North-Central Interior Oak Savanna Summer
North-Central Oak Barrens Summer
Southeastern Great Plains Tallgrass Prairie Winter
Florida Dry Prairie Winter
West Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Calcareous Prairie Winter
West Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Calcareous Prairie Winter
East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Prairie and Woodland Winter
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Dune and Maritime Grassland Winter
Southwest Florida Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter
Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Winter
East Gulf Coastal Plain Dune and Coastal Grassland Winter
Central and Upper Texas Coast Dune and Coastal Grassland Summer and winter
Recently Logged Areas Summer and winter
Harvested Forest - Grass/Forb Regeneration Summer and winter
Recently Burned Winter
Recently Burned Forest Summer and winter
Recently Burned Grassland Winter
Recently Burned Shrubland Winter
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Shrub Winter
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Forbland Winter
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Annual Grassland Winter
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland Winter
Introduced Upland Vegetation - Perennial Grassland and Forbland Winter
Texas Saline Coastal Prairie Winter
Tamaulipan Riparian Systems Summer and winter
West Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Forest Summer and winter
West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter
Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Summer and winter
Texas-Louisiana Coastal Prairie Slough Winter
East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Plain Dry Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Winter
Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Winter
West Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Winter
West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Flatwoods Summer and winter
North-Central Interior Wet Flatwoods Summer
West Gulf Coastal Plain Nonriverine Wet Hardwood Flatwoods Summer and winter