The 2003 breeding woodcock survey in Britain.

Abstract

In a recent review of the population status of birds in the UK, the woodcock was 'amber listed' as a bird of conservation concern because of an apparent long-term decline in breeding numbers (Gregory et al., 2002). However, to date the available data have consisted of sightings of woodcock during the course of general bird surveys rather than counts from dedicated surveys (Gibbons et al., 1993). A survey method based on counts of roding males, as developed in France (Ferrand 1993, Ferrand et al., 2003), seemed more appropriate for assessing population trends. Pilot work involved assessing optimal timing for the counts, both seasonally and during the day, and demonstrating a relationship between the number of woodcock registrations and the number of individual males at a site (Hoodless, 2004).