Eurasian Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola): Photos, Range and Facts

Overview

The Eurasian woodcock (Scolopax rusticola) 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 male performs a courtship flight known as "roding" at dusk in spring.

Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Range and habitat

Breeds locally in moist woodland and bogs from British Isles and Scandinavia southward to northern Iberian Peninsula and Azores to Canary Islands, eastward to southeastern Russia, and northern and central Japan, and disjunctly in the Caucasus and Himalayas; winters southward to northern Africa and eastward to central and southern Japan and Taiwan.

Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.

Sources and further reading

Last updated September 29, 2026.

Eurasian Woodcock

Overview

Range and habitat

Continents

Countries

Sources and further reading