The woodcocks are a group of seven or eight very similar living species of wading birds in the genus Scolopax. The genus name is Latin for a snipe or woodcock, and until around 1800 was used to refer to a variety of waders. The English name is first recorded in about 1050. According to the Harleian Miscellany, a group of woodcocks is called a "fall".
The Eurasian or common whimbrel, also known as the white-rumped whimbrel in North America, is a wader in the large family Scolopacidae. It is one of the most widespread of the curlews, breeding across much of subarctic Asia and Europe as far south as Scotland. This species and the Hudsonian whimbrel have recently been split, although some taxonomic authorities still consider them to be conspecific.
The common snipe is a small, stocky wader native to the Old World.
The American woodcock, sometimes colloquially referred to as the timberdoodle, is a small shorebird species found primarily in the eastern half of North America. Woodcocks spend most of their time on the ground in brushy, young-forest habitats, where the birds' brown, black, and gray plumage provides excellent camouflage.
The Eurasian woodcock is a medium-small wading bird found in temperate and subarctic Eurasia. It has cryptic camouflage to suit its woodland habitat, with reddish-brown upperparts and buff-coloured underparts. Its eyes are set far back on its head to give it 360-degree vision and it probes in the ground for food with its long, sensitive bill, making it vulnerable to cold weather when the ground remains frozen.
The Amami woodcock is a medium-sized wader. It is slightly larger and longer-legged than Eurasian woodcock, and may be conspecific.
Dusky woodcock has been split into two species:
The Sulawesi woodcock also known as Celebes woodcock, is a medium-sized wader. It is larger and darker than Eurasian woodcock but with small reddish spots.
The Moluccan woodcock, also known as the Obi woodcock, is a lowland wader endemic to Indonesia. Its distribution is restricted to Obi and possibly Bacan, two small islands in North Maluku. It is a medium-sized bird, measuring 32-40 centimetres, and is the largest of the woodcocks. Its conservation status is vulnerable due to severe habitat destruction on Obi.
The ruffed grouse is a medium-sized grouse occurring in forests from the Appalachian Mountains across Canada to Alaska. It is the most widely distributed game bird in North America. It is non-migratory. It is the only species in the genus Bonasa.
The jack snipe or jacksnipe is a small stocky wader. It is the smallest snipe, and the only member of the genus Lymnocryptes. Features such as its sternum make it quite distinct from other snipes or woodcocks.
The great snipe is a small stocky wader in the genus Gallinago. This bird's breeding habitat is marshes and wet meadows with short vegetation in north-eastern Europe, including north-western Russia. Great snipes are migratory, wintering in Africa. The European breeding population is in steep decline.
Ujung Kulon National Park is a national park at the westernmost tip of Java, located in Sumer District of Pandeglang Regency, part of Banten province of Indonesia. It once included the volcanic island group of Krakatoa in Lampung province, although current maps suggest the Krakatoa island group as its own protected area, the Pulau Anak Krakatau Marine Nature Reserve.
The Bukidnon woodcock, or Philippine woodcock is a medium-sized wader. It was only described as new to science as recently as 2001, although the initial specimens had been collected on Luzon in the 1960s, these were originally misidentified as Eurasian woodcock specimens. It was not until the bird was heard calling in 1993, and new specimens obtained on Mindanao in 1995, that it was realised that the species was new. It is listed as Least Concern by the IUCN.
The Javan mongoose is a mongoose species native to Southeast Asia.
The Javan shortwing is a species of bird that is placed in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It is endemic to the island of Java where it favours montane forests.
The buff-breasted earthcreeper is a species of bird in the Furnariinae subfamily of the ovenbird family Furnariidae. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru.
The New Guinea woodcock is a species of bird in the family Scolopacidae formerly considered to be conspecific with the Javan woodcock and called collectively the dusky woodcock. It is native to the New Guinea Highlands.
Scolopax brachycarpa, is an extinct species of woodcock in the family Scolopacidae that was endemic to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.
Scolopax anthonyi is a prehistoric species of woodcock in the family Scolopacidae that was once endemic to the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico.
