The woodcock's favorite food choice is earthworms, which make up 80 percent of its diet. In fact, the woodcock has been known to eat its weight or more in earthworms within 24 hours. Beetle, larvae, ants, and other invertebrates make up another 10 percent of the bird's diet. These foods are eaten mainly in times of drought, when earthworms are deeper in the earth so the woodcock can't reach them. Small seeds and berries of plants like violets, alder, blackberry, and sedges make up the remainder of the woodcock's diet.
Woodcock like to feed in moist soil in forest openings, alder bottoms, and aspen alder stands.
The birds feed mostly during the day. Down on the Bayou Wisconsin woodcock spend their winter in Arkansas, Louisiana, and southwest Mississippi in the flood plains and backwaters of the Mississippi River delta region. Beginning in late January or February woodcock travel north, spending about 4-6 weeks on their journey to the breeding grounds. Most have arrived back in Wisconsin by mid-March, but arrival times vary, depending on spring snow melt. Dogs, skunks, opossums, snakes, and crows often eat woodcock eggs and destroy nests.