Ohio's Exotic Gamebird

 

Cardinals. Robins. Sparrows. Most birds have a lot of similarities. They have a recognizable shape. They whistle, sing or chirp. The fly from branch to branch and live a pretty ordinary bird-type of life. Then there's the American Woodcock. Although not rare, they are strange.

The American Woodcock is approximately softball-sized with understated brown plumage that is perfect camouflage for the damp, new-growth, forest floors where they live. Outwardly, they look like a shorebird that forgot to grow its legs. Males and females are essentially identical. You have to look closely, but that’s where the understatedness ends.

Unlike nearly every other animal in the world, their eyes are situated behind their ears. That enables them to see danger above while their long beak (more on that later) is sunk deep into the soft soil probing (and possibly listening) for earthworms that make up the vast majority of their diet. Often they rock back and forth, somehow causing invertebrates underground to give up their location and become dinner. I’m saying dinner because they’re primarily nocturnal and that meal seems to align best.

The preceding was an excerpt from The American Woodcock is an exotic bird visiting Ohio, published in the Dayton Daily News, Springfield News Sun, and Butler Journal.

Resources: 

https://www.woodcockmigration.org/migration.html 

https://www.metroparks.org/programs-events-finder/program_number=S39&api=programs&type=program 

https://ohiodnr.gov/home/news-and-events/all-events 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_woodcock#:~:text=Woodcocks%20migrate%20at%20night.,was%20recorded%20for%20this%20species. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97nnyyvXzmA&t=100s 

Interesting American Woodcock Nicknames:

• Timberdoodle
• Bogsucker
• Labrador twister
• Mudbat

How'd They Get Here? or This Must Be the Place!

 

We know, or think we know some things about how birds navigate using magnetic fields and possibly smells. But the magnetic signals are really weak, and birds without it still manage. Scent we're not sure. Here's a fascinating listen into another possible way migratory birds might navigate. I have to say that I like the idea of calibrating their system with the sunset ... I think Andrew Huberman might agree. 

https://open.spotify.com/episode/7gk2iSvGmVw0tLnCrCR1zA?si=27a1d51b86d0457a

No Grousing About Late Winter in Ohio

The following is an excerpt of an article originally published in the Dayton Daily News, Springfield News Sun, and Journal News. 

Some of my favorite annual outings used to be the tail end of Ohio’s October-to-February Ruffed Grouse season. I’ve seen reports that hunter success was greatest in October and February in that stretch. This hunter’s efforts were not an additive factor to grouse mortality.

A snowy weekday outing stands out in memory. We left with an empty game bag, but an exhausted dog and a satisfied hunter.

That’s not an available option anymore. Beginning from a peak in the 1980s, Ohio’s Ruffed Grouse jumped the track on the bust of a 10-year boom-bust cycle and never boomed again. In 2009, the month of February was dropped from the season. Later changes were made eliminating most of January.

This most recent season was confined to one month — from Nov. 1 to Dec. 1 — with a daily limit of 1 bird, in select counties only. There were questions if there should be a season at all. In this way, the Ruffed Grouse has followed a very similar path in Ohio to the Bobwhite Quail.

Read the complete article here: Ignore the cold weather and get outside: It’s Cottontail rabbit season and fish runs in the local rivers start soon

Resources Cited in Article:

• Ohio Department of Natural Resources - Ruffed Grouse
• Ruffed Grouse Society | American Woodcock Society
• Distribution and Relative Abundance of Ruffed Grouse in Ohio
• Ruffed Grouse Population Declines in the Eastern United States Prepared by the Eastern Grouse Working Group – December 2020

Housing Crisis Hits Ohio wildlife

The following is an excerpt from an article published in the Dayton Daily News.

Many of our favorite wildlife characters are facing challenges finding accommodations. Habitat is the defining factor in their existence, from food to shelter to reproduction. Like our housing, habitat is at a premium and wildlife faces less-than-optimal options.

I’ll skip a political discussion, but for wildlife habitat diversity is great and monocultures are not. You can recognize good habitat because it enables creatures to find food and shelter with a reasonable effort.

The time is now to help area wildlife going into the spring. You can read the complete article here:

Housing Crisis Hits Ohio Wildlife

Following are links to resources cited or mentioned in the article

Bird Box Plans


Plant a Pollinator Garden


Acreage Lost Stat


Pheasants Forever


Quail Forever


Ducks Unlimited


Mad River Trout Unlimited


Participate in Stream Quality Monitoring


Wetland stamp