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Canaan Valley, a 40-mi2 (104-km2) basin situated about 3200 ft (975 m) above sea level in the mountains of northeastern West Virginia, supports a plant and animal community of largely boreal nature-a relic of the Ice Age. Removal of the original forest and subsequent fires drastically altered Canaan Valley's flora and fauna. This paper summarizes actions by the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (WV DNR) to research, manage, and restore several wildlife species, most of which are indigenous to Canaan Valley and its environs. Of particular importance was the WV DNR's research of Scolopax minor (American Woodcock), the findings of which have had broad management implications and brought national attention to hunting in Canaan Valley. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canaan Valley contains important habitat for Scolopax minor (American Woodcock) in the mid-Atlantic states, especially in West Virginia. Throughout the eastern United States, however, this species has experienced significant population declines since the US Fish and Wildlife Service began monitoring its populations in 1968. Losses of early successional habitats through urbanization and forest-stand maturation have been identified as probable causes for the decrease in population. During 1995-1997, we sampled American Woodcock presence and measured microhabitat and landscape characteristics in a variety of early successional habitats on plots located in and around Canaan Valley. Habitat characteristics related to soil moisture differentiated sites in and outside of Canaan Valley. Sites used by American Woodcock in Canaan Valley generally occurred in or near shrubby wetlands. To identify long-term changes in quality and quantity of American Woodcock habitat, we also compared current availability of appropriate habitat to similar data collected by researchers in the 1970s. We found that almost all of the sites in Canaan Valley that were originally classified as exceptional were still good American Woodcock habitat. Land development and succession, however, have reduced the quality of habitat. Active management and protection are needed, particularly because Canaan Valley is the only place in West Virginia that consistently offers exceptional American Woodcock habitat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Male Scolopax minor (American Woodcock ) occasionally perform courtship behaviors outside of the primary breeding period. The costs and benefits of such behaviors are not known. We observed a Woodcock perform an aerial courtship display in Minnesota on 8 November 2010, a juvenile male emit peent vocalizations in Virginia on 12 December 1991, and a solitary individual emit a cackle vocalization in Georgia on 28 December 1994. These behaviors may have been aberrations that are selected against and therefore uncommon, influenced by environmental conditions, or performed to improve the quality of male courtship behaviors. Research and monitoring are needed to ascertain which if any of these explanations is correct [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

- During the 1970s-80s, Scolopax minor (American Woodcock) on wintering grounds in North Carolina generally used bottomland forests diurnally and fed on earthworms in conventionally tilled soybean fields at night. Researchers surmised the ridges and furrows in conventionally tilled fields provided Woodcock protection from predators and winter weather. Since the 1980s, farmers widely adopted no-till practices for soybean agriculture, and this change in field structure may have altered Woodcock crop field use. We returned to the same area as previous research and conducted a study of Woodcock crop field and forest use in a landscape where crop fields are the dominant open-habitat type. During December 2009-March 2010, we captured and radio-tracked 29 Woodcock. Every 24 hours, we located each radio-marked Woodcock during diurnal and nocturnal periods, and verified the habitat type on foot as either crop field or bottomland forest. We recorded 94% of nocturnal locations in forest, 6% of nocturnal locations in crop fields, and 100% of diurnal locations in forest. Percent of an individual Woodcock's nocturnal locations in crop fields ranged from zero to 44%, with a mean of 6% (+ 2% SE). The adoption of no-till technology and associated reduction in ridge and furrow micro-habitat available in crop fields may contribute to the low frequency of Woodcock nocturnal field use. Because Woodcock primarily were relocated in bottomland forests diurnally and nocturnally, forest stands should be conserved when managing agricultural landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scolopax minor (American Woodcock) populations have been declining for the past several decades. Weather conditions have been hypothesized to affect reproductive efforts in February and March in the southern United States, but similar influences on January breeding activities are unknown. We used a 17-year harvest data set from eastern Texas to examine the influence of several temperature and precipitation measures, female body mass, and forest habitat type on the occurrence of reproduction by Woodcock in January. Only adult females exhibited characteristics of breeding activity. There was annual variation (0-29%) in the occurrence of breeding adult females, but local temperature and precipitation measures were not correlated with January reproduction. More breeding Woodcock were harvested in open sapling stands than other habitats. Environmental factors other than monthly temperature and precipitation may influence January reproductive efforts of Woodcock in eastern Texas. We suggest investigation of timing of fall migration and condition of the birds upon arrival on wintering grounds as potential factors influencing reproductive efforts in January. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]