Woodcock 5-10 times more numerous than previously thought

11/03/2009 00:23:16 Science reveals the origins of the mysterious woodcock

March 2009. The woodcock is an elusive wader that was amber listed in 2002 because of an apparent decline in its breeding population. Although in autumn the resident UK woodcock population is supplemented by a large influx of up to 750,000 migrants from continental Europe, very little is known about this secretive bird. To help inform future management and hunting policies, the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust has embarked on an ambitious research programme to discover the status of different woodcock populations.

British woodcock population
Initially, this research involved determining the status of the British woodcock population. To do this, the Trust developed a unique species-specific survey method that enabled researchers to more accurately count this elusive nocturnal bird. As a result of this new monitoring technique, the Trust has revised the population estimate to 78,500 pairs from the original suggested population of just 5,000 -12,500 resident pairs.

Annual counts
Although the survey revealed that the population was actually much higher than originally estimated, it is important to determine whether there has been a serious decline in resident woodcock numbers from previous levels. Annual counts are ongoing and a repeat national survey is planned in order to address this.

Migration from Scandinavia & Russia?
As well as studying our resident birds, the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust is working with Oxford University to look at woodcock migration in Britain and Ireland. Dr Andrew Hoodless, who heads this research for the Trust said, "Although woodcock breed across Scandinavia to northern central Russia, our current knowledge of the origins of migrant woodcock in Britain and Ireland is based on just 290 recoveries of foreign-ringed birds over the last 100 years. We therefore need to build a more detailed picture of the links between breeding and wintering sites and of migratory routes so that we can evaluate the effects of changes in habitat, climate or hunting pressure at stop-over or wintering areas at the population scale."

Chemical research
The Trust's new research aims to incorporate information from a variety of sources to build a more complete picture than has been previously possible. Using the facilities offered by Oxford University, the Trust will be analysing the stable isotopes of elements such as hydrogen, carbon and nitrogen, which are locked into the birds' feathers as they grow on breeding grounds. This offers a unique insight into the region of origin of each individual bird.

Satellite tags reveal 4000 Kms journey
The Trust is also investigating the use of satellite tags on a small number of woodcock to provide detailed information on routes between wintering sites and breeding grounds, to complement the information obtained from stable isotope analysis. Tagging can provide invaluable data on woodcock migration and a study in Spain recorded a female woodcock that migrated 3,800 kilometres to Russia to nest in 2007, returned to within 11km of the original point of capture in Spain during the winter of 2007/8 and nested in Russia again in 2008!

Hunting community
In addition to these technological developments, which will be invaluable in assessing the current status of woodcock, the Trust is enlisting the support of the shooting community, Andrew Hoodless explains, "We believe that the shooting community can provide valuable information on woodcock arrivals and movements. Wings collected from shot birds can be used to provide an insight into whether there are regional differences in the timing of arrival of the different ages and sexes. Bag records have not been used to their full potential for this species and we think they can reveal a lot about the effects of weather and regional differences in woodcock abundance. From this information we will be able to model potential future changes in woodcock numbers and distribution based on different climate change scenarios."

Generous funding by the Countryside Alliance Foundation and the Shooting Times Woodcock Club has enabled the Trust to employ a PhD student, Adele Powell to carry out this essential research. The Trust has also initiated its own Woodcock appeal, and those interested in woodcock research are invited to donate £65 to cover the cost of sponsoring an individual woodcock, thus enabling a more detailed analysis of its migratory habits.