The diet and behaviour of Eurasian Woodcock wintering in Cornwall.

Abstract

In the winters of 1977-7 8 and 1978-79 the diet and behaviour of wintering woodcock were studied on the Lizard Peninsula in west Cornwall, South-west England. Stomach contents of 64 shot birds were examined and five woodcock marked with radio transmitters. Birds exhibited high site fidelity during winter, flying out to feed at pasture fields at dusk and returning to diurnal roosts at dawn. Earthworms and secondly dipteran larvae were the main food items. Pasture fields differed in their attractiveness to woodcock, most likely as a consequence of earthworm occurrence. There was no evidence of territoriality at feeding grounds. Frozen ground disrupted the basic pattern of behaviour.