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 American woodcock, sometimes colloquially referred to as the timberdoodle, the bogsucker, the hokumpoke, and the Labrador twister, 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 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.
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 hooded pitta is a passerine bird in the family Pittidae. It is common in eastern and southeastern Asia and maritime Southeast Asia, where it lives in several types of forests as well as on plantations and other cultivated areas. It is a green bird with a black head and chestnut crown. It forages on the ground for insects and their larvae, and also eats berries. It breeds between February and August, the pair being strongly territorial and building their nest on the ground. Incubation and care of the fledglings is done by both parents. The bird has a wide range, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of "least concern".
The Sulawesi masked owl is a species of owl in the family Tytonidae. It is endemic to the Indonesian islands of Sulawesi, Sangihe and Peleng. It is listed by the IUCN as being of least concern.
The blue-faced rail or bald-faced rail, is a species of bird in the family Rallidae. It is endemic to Sulawesi, Indonesia.
The red-collared myzomela is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is found in New Guinea. The long-billed myzomela of Goodenough Island was formerly considered conspecific, but was split as a distinct species by the IOC in 2021.
The Javan woodcock or rufous woodcock is a small wader restricted to wet mountain forests on Sumatra and western Java. It nests on a bed of moss in light undergrowth. It has a "roding" display flight like Eurasian woodcock, but the calls are different.
The Biak lorikeet, also known as Rosenberg's lorikeet, is a parrot in the family Psittaculidae. Formerly lumped in with Trichoglossus haematodus, it is endemic to the twin islands of Biak and Superiori in the Papua province of Indonesia.
The long-billed myzomela is a species of bird in the family Meliphagidae. It is found on Goodenough Island. It was formerly considered a subspecies of the red-collared myzomela, but was split as a distinct species by the IOC in 2021.
