For the fifth consecutive year, BiodiversityWorks coordinated an annual Martha's Vineyard survey of American woodcock (Scolopax minor, AMWO) from April 20 to May 10, 2026, with the goal of tracking trends in this engaging shorebird’s island population. Starting between 15 and 22 minutes after sunset, intrepid volunteers covered 23 survey routes via foot, bicycle, or vehicle, stopping to listen for the distinctive call of this species at a total of 133 survey points. We also used a Song Meter acoustic detector to passively listen for AMWO at one additional site during the survey window. The song meter was also used to survey some sites on our survey routes that yielded no AMWO but where the habitat indicates there ought to be one or two. Detectors can be out for multiple nights and are always alert, making it likely that they will detect birds missed by human observers using the more restrictive survey protocol. So far, however, the strategy has not paid off: sites producing no AMWO during the human survey have also yielded no AMWO on the detectors.
Samantha Bryn driving to her woodcock survey site.
Silas Beers doing his woodcock survey via bike.
The American Woodcock is a plump, short-legged forest dwelling shorebird with a long bill optimized for feeding on earthworms. Anecdotally, woodcocks are common on the island. As early as February, male woodcocks begin their “sky dance,” which consists of a call, sounding something like a nasal “peent,” followed by an aerial flight in which a male spirals as much as 60 meters into the air before returning to the original location where the display started. Surveying for these singing-ground displays at dusk is the most reliable way to collect population data on local woodcock. Other traditional surveys, such as the Christmas Bird Count or the North American Breeding Bird Survey in June, are not as effective due to the cryptic and largely nocturnal nature of these birds. In 1968, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which has management authority for this species, developed the Singing Ground Survey (SGS). Counts of singing males can be used to estimate woodcock populations and monitor changes over time. Each spring, surveyors drive designated 3.6-mile routes that consist of 10 listening points. The routes are surveyed shortly after sunset by an observer who visits each of the 10 stops and records the number of woodcocks heard peenting within 38 minutes of the survey's starting time. Acceptable dates for conducting the survey within our region range from April 20 to May 10, a measure intended to ensure that we are counting resident woodcock and not transients. In 2022, we applied these methods to survey our Martha's Vineyard AMWO population. Our routes are spread across the island and consist of anywhere from one to nine survey points. Other than route length, we follow the SGS protocols developed by USFWS.
Male American woodcock ready to conduct his mating displays.
A total of 37 displaying males were detected this year, which is a decrease from last year, when 48 were detected. The weather was challenging during the survey window with many cold and windy nights, which may have suppressed this year's numbers. However, the number of AMWO detected per observation point continues to hover slightly above or below 0.3 birds per point, which has been the pattern across the last 5 years. While these stable data points are nice to see for the island, overall, AMWO populations in Massachusetts have been declining, mostly due to habitat loss. Woodcock prefer abandon farm fields, and young forests. As these habitats mature or are developed, these remarkable birds have fewer options for mating displays and raising young.
With survey results staying fairly stable over the last five years for American Woodcock, we may adjust our future surveys by either pausing the project for a few years before repeating the survey or removing survey routes that have not produced any birds in five years (which is how the US Fish and Wildlife manages their routes). Regardless of our formal survey plans next year, come spring, we will be eager to go out and hear a few PEENTS!
Another joy while we are out listening for woodcock is hearing another nocturnal bird, the Eastern Whip-Poor-Will. This year we heard a total of 12 during our surveys. Nocturnal fieldwork takes a certain level of commitment, but it always yields remarkable experiences!
