US Fish & Wildlife Service
Date of this Version
2009
Citation
Cooper, T.R., and K. Parker. 2009. American woodcock population status, 2009. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Laurel, Maryland. 15 pp.
Abstract
Singing-ground Survey data for 2009 indicated that indices for singing American woodcock (Scolopax minor) males in the Eastern and Central Management Regions are not significantly different from 2008. There was no significant 10-year trend for woodcock heard in either management region during 1999-2009. This represents the sixth consecutive year that the 10-year trend estimate did not indicate a significant decline in the Eastern Region. The 10- year trend in the Central Region returned to stability after showing a significant decline last year. Both regions have a long-term (1968-09) declining trend of -1.1 % per year. The 2008 recruitment index for the U.S. portion of the Eastern Region (1.8 immatures per adult female) was 11.1 % greater than the 2007 index and 7.6 % above the long-term regional index, while the recruitment index for the U.S. portion of the Central Region (1.6 immatures per adult female) was 6.3 % greater than the 2007 index and was 1.1 % lower than the long-term regional index. Estimates from the Harvest Information Program indicated that U.S. woodcock hunters in the Eastern Region spent 169,000 days afield and harvested 104,700 woodcock during the 2008-09 season, while in the Central Region, hunters spent 369,800 days afield and harvested 174,300 woodcock.