US Fish & Wildlife Service

 

Date of this Version

2012

Citation

Cooper, T.R., and R.D. Rau. 2012. American woodcock population status, 2012. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Laurel, Maryland. 16 pp.

Abstract

Singing-ground Survey data for 2012 indicate that indices for singing American woodcock (Scolopax minor) males in the Eastern and Central Management Regions are not significantly different from 2011. There was no significant 10-year trend for woodcock heard in the Eastern or Central Management Regions during 2002-12. This marks the ninth consecutive year that the 10-year trend estimate was not significant in the Eastern Region and the second year that the 10-year trend in the Central Management Region was non-significant. Both regions have a longterm (1968-12) declining trend of -0.8 % per year. The 2011 recruitment index for the U.S. portion of the Eastern Region (1.68 immatures per adult female) was 13.7% greater than the 2010 index and 2.5% greater than the long-term regional index, while the recruitment index for the U.S. portion of the Central Region (1.53 immatures per adult female) was 0.8% lower than the 2010 index and was 2.6% lower than the long-term regional index. Estimates from the Harvest Information Program indicated that U.S. woodcock hunters in the Eastern Region spent 156,000 days afield and harvested 77,000 woodcock during the 2011-12 season, while in the Central Region, hunters spent 350,500 days afield and harvested 231,700 woodcock.

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