Feeding-Site Selection and Foraging Strategies of American Woodcock

Live-trapped, adult American Woodcock (Scolopax minor) were tested in a series of laboratory experiments designed to evaluate the role of soil as a proximal cue for selecting feeding sites and to investigate foraging strategies for capturing earthworms (Lumbricidae). Foraging trials were conducted in a circular arena and showed that color, which tends to be correlated with the soil types and moisture regimes preferred by earthworms, was an important proximal cue for selecting feeding sites. Woodcock captured earthworms most efficiently in areas of relatively high prey density, because they used a nonrandom search pattern following an initial capture.