MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • March 19, 2023
One of my favorite early migrants that has already begun returning to Maine is the American woodcock. Woodcocks are short-distance migrants. Unlike many of the shorebirds we see in Maine – who are wintering as far south as the southern half of South America – woodcocks mostly winter in the United States. Since they are already so close, they can react to changes in the weather and come north on warm late-winter days. It is very risky to migrate early because of the chance it will snow again, or be too cold, and the birds won’t be able to find food (since they are typically probing that cold ground for invertebrates). The high reward, though, is higher reproductive rates. ~ Maine Audubon Staff Naturalist Doug Hitchcox