It is known by a variety of colorful local names including timberdoodle, Labrador twister, brush snipe, woods snipe, and bog sucker.
Woodcock are cryptically colored and more compact than other shorebirds.
Their plumage consists of a mottled pattern of browns, black, buff, and gray. A female American woodcock in typical habitat. Courtesy D. McAuley, USGS The northeastern states are a major breeding area for woodcock. Most woodcock winter south of the region except for a small population along coastal Virginia. Cape May, New Jersey, and Cape Charles, Virginia, are major staging areas for woodcock during migration, especially in the fall.