Search

Diversity in behavior is important for migratory birds in adapting to dynamic environmental and habitat conditions and responding to global change. Migratory behavior can be described by a variety of factors that comprise migration strategies. We characterized variation in migration strategies in American Woodcock (Scolopax minor), a migratory gamebird experiencing long-term population decline, using GPS data from ~300 individuals tracked throughout eastern North America. We classified woodcock migratory movements using a step-length threshold, and calculated characteristics of migration related to distance, path, and stopping events. We then used principal components analysis (PCA) to ordinate variation in migration characteristics along axes that explained different fundamental aspects of migration, and tested effects of body condition, age-sex class, and starting and ending location on PCA results. The PCA did not show evidence for clustering, suggesting a lack of discrete strategies among groups of individuals; rather, woodcock migration strategies existed along continuous gradients driven most heavily by metrics associated with migration distance and duration, departure timing, and stopping behavior. Body condition did not explain variation in migration strategy during the fall or spring, but during spring adult males and young females differed in some characteristics related to migration distance and duration. Starting and ending latitude and longitude, particularly the northernmost point of migration, explained up to 61% of the variation in any one axis of migration strategy. Our results reveal gradients in migration behavior of woodcock, and this variability should increase the resilience of woodcock to future anthropogenic landscape and climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How postbreeding habitat quality and body composition of migratory birds carry over to influence fall migration strategies and residency merits consideration when creating cross-seasonal conservation plans, especially in breeding populations that are partial migrants. We assessed the influence of postbreeding habitat quality on departure body composition and fall migration patterns in a southern New England breeding population of American Woodcock (Scolopax minor). Woodcock that overwintered near breeding areas (n = 5) had less fat upon capture in fall and used lower quality habitat during the fall than birds that eventually departed on migration (n = 17). Woodcock that departed earlier were long-distance migrants that had inhabited higher quality landscapes prior to migration, departed with less or similar fat stores, stopped over for shorter periods on migration, and arrived earlier on their more southerly wintering areas. In contrast, woodcock that departed later were short-distance migrants that had inhabited lower quality landscapes prior to migration yet stored similar or more fat upon departure, stopped over for longer periods on migration, and arrived relatively late to their more northerly wintering areas. These differences in migration strategies were evident under the same fall environmental conditions and did not appear related to individuals responding to their own condition as would be expected if they were classic condition-based carry-over effects. As such, the southern New England breeding population of woodcock is best categorized as nonfacultative partial migrants (i.e., includes residents, short-distance migrants, and long-distance migrants) that demonstrate weak connectivity between life stages; such populations are excellent for the study of the costs and benefits of migration. The stopover and wintering areas used by woodcock in the coastal mid-Atlantic states deserve conservation and management attention in order to preserve critical habitat throughout their wintering range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migration is a period of high activity and exposure during which risks and energetic demand on individuals may be greater than during nonmigratory periods. Stopover locations can help mitigate these threats by providing supplemental energy en route to the animal's end destination. Effective conservation of migratory species therefore requires an understanding of use of space that provides resources to migratory animals at stopover sites. We conducted a radio-telemetry study of a short-distance migrant, the American Woodcock (Scolopax minor), at an important stopover site, the Cape May Peninsula, New Jersey. Our objectives were to describe land-cover types used by American Woodcock and evaluate home range habitat selection for individuals that stopover during fall migration and those that choose to overwinter. We radio-marked 271 individuals and collected 1,949 locations from these birds (0–21 points individual–1) over 4 yr (2010 to 2013) to inform resource selection functions of land-cover types and other landscape characteristics by this species. We evaluated these relationships at multiple spatial extents for (1) birds known to have ultimately left the peninsula (presumed migrants), and (2) birds known to have remained on the peninsula into the winter (presumed winter residents). We found that migrants selected deciduous wetland forest, agriculture, mixed shrub, coniferous wetland forest, and coniferous shrub, while wintering residents selected deciduous wetland forest, coniferous shrub, and deciduous shrub. We used these results to develop predictive models of potential habitat: 7.80% of the peninsula was predicted to be potential stopover habitat for American Woodcock (95% classification accuracy) and 4.96% of the peninsula was predicted to be potential wintering habitat (85% classification accuracy). Our study is the first to report habitat relationships for migratory American Woodcock in the coastal U.S. and provides important spatial tools for local and regional managers to support migratory and winter resident woodcock populations into the future. LAY SUMMARY Stopover sites provide habitat for migratory animals to rest and refuel before continuing migration, making these areas important for species' conservation. We used radio-telemetry to assess American Woodcock stopover and wintering habitat selection on the Cape May Peninsula, New Jersey. Short-term migrants used a greater variety of land-covers than winter residents, although both selected deciduous wetland forest and sites in close proximity to fields. Less than 10% of the Cape May Peninsula provides stopover or wintering habitat for American Woodcock, highlighting the importance of conserving these important but potentially limited resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wildlife must acquire resources while avoiding predation, and sometimes this requires commuting between sites. During summer, American woodcock often fly between forests and fields where they spend the day and night, respectively. The advantage of this behavior is poorly known. We found that preferred foods of woodcock were more abundant in forests, and woodcock predators were less active in fields. Thus, commuting by woodcock during summer allows them to feed during the day and avoid predators at night.Moving between sites is a common behavior employed by prey in order to balance trade-offs associated with acquiring resources and avoiding predators. At dusk during summer, American woodcock frequently fly from diurnal coverts in forests to nocturnal roost fields. We tested 2 hypotheses, the foraging-benefit hypothesis and predation-risk hypothesis, to determine the benefit gained by woodcock that commute. We used telemetry to identify the diurnal coverts and nocturnal roost fields used by woodcock in Rhode Island, USA, during 2 summers. At each site, we measured the availability and diversity of woodcock prey, soil properties, and mammalian predator activity. Earthworms were 3–4 times more abundant at diurnal coverts than nocturnal roost fields. The richness and diversity of woodcock foods was greater at diurnal coverts during 2011 but similar between sites during 2012. Soil moisture content was about 1.5 times greater at diurnal coverts, whereas other soil properties were similar between sites. At night, mammalian predators visited diurnal coverts more frequently than nocturnal roost fields for 73% of the woodcock we monitored during 2011. During 2012, the number of days until initial predator visit was 1.8 times greater at nocturnal roost fields. Our results provide the first empirical support for the predation-risk hypothesis. During summer, woodcock fly from diurnal coverts to nocturnal roost fields to avoid predators and not to feed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Presents information on a study which described a late tertiary woodcock from Menorca, Baleric Islands, Western Mediterranean. Anatomical information on the species; Archeological analysis of the fossils; Conclusion.

The multiscale nature of habitat selection during the breeding season for migratory birds means that core-use areas (e.g. breeding territories) are selected based on their local habitat features, but these may also be influenced in some way by features within a larger-scale landscape. We conducted a reciprocal transplant experiment to test the hypothesis that habitat selection and movements of male American Woodcock (Scolopax minor) in core-use areas during the breeding season depend on the perceived quality of the surrounding landscape. We captured second-year male woodcocks (n = 19) at high- or low-likelihood of use landscapes in Rhode Island, USA, affixed each with a radio transmitter, relocated them to the opposite type of landscape, and then determined if they returned to their original site of capture or remained in the landscape to which they were relocated. Birds captured in high-likelihood landscapes and moved to low-likelihood landscapes generally returned to their original high-likelihood landscape (5/7, 71%), but birds captured in low-likelihood landscapes and moved to high-likelihood landscapes rarely returned to their original low-likelihood landscape (1/12, 8%). These results support the hypothesis that woodcock assess their surroundings relatively rapidly and subsequently make critical settlement decisions based on landscape composition. Given that woodcock choice is predicted by the woodcock-specific resource selection function, these results also provide support for the use of this tool to guide forest management for woodcock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]