Cape May County News: The Press of Atlantic City

January 25, 2004

Every woodcock counts

Cape May refuge to hold a survey of elusive birds

By RICHARD DEGENER Staff Writer, (609) 463-6711, E-Mail

MIDDLE TOWNSHIP - There were no woodcock to be found Saturday morning at the Cape May National Wildlife Refuge. Even on Woodcock Lane, an aptly named street on the border of the preserve, the ground was just too hard.

But there were plenty of woodcock along Sunset Boulevard in Lower Township, where an underground sewer pipe thawed the earth just enough for New Jersey's only woodland shorebird to find some worms to eat.

Life can be pretty tough for a woodcock in winter.

The small brown bird has to eat its weight per day in worms. Even with a long bill equipped for the task, ears set forward to hear the worms while leaning over and eyes on the back of the head to see predators while working the ground, the woodcock is out of luck when the ground freezes.

Life can be tough for a woodcock in winter, but it soon may get a bit easier.

Woodcock were one of the main reasons for creating the Cape May National Wildlife Refuge in 1989. Cape May County and Cape Charles, Va., are two of the largest concentration points along the East Coast migration corridor for the species. The refuge was created in part to preserve woodcock habitat.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service already has acquired 11,000 acres, with a goal of 21,000, to help woodcock and other key migratory bird species, but it is just now starting to figure out exactly how many woodcock are out there.

"We're collecting baseline data so we can start comparing year to year to see what we have in the refuge. From that, we can make management decisions," Heidi Hanlon, a biologist with the Wildlife Service, said Saturday morning.

The area long has been known as a migration stopover area, and even a place where some woodcock try to make it through the winter while most of their kind head south, but one of the main goals now is to find out about spring breeding. The Wildlife Service and The Ruffed Grouse Society, a nonprofit conservation organization dedicated to improving the environment for ruffed grouse and woodcock, have teamed up to conduct a spring survey that will begin here April 10.

"We're finding out at what level woodcock are using Cape May. There is an assumption it's an extremely important area, and I think that's true," said Mark Banker, a biologist with The Ruffed Grouse Society, which is funded partly by woodcock hunters.

Some of the answers may come this spring, but to get them help from the public is needed. A call for volunteers has been issued. From April 15 to April 30, the volunteers will fan out just after sunset across the refuge, listening for the sounds of male woodcock mating calls. Hanlon said they are looking for about 20 volunteers.

They will be listening for a sound the males make to attract a female. Hanlon described the sound as a "peent" call. The male often will make the nasal peent call for about one minute to initiate courtship.

"There will be a training session, but the call is pretty easy to learn," Hanlon said.

The enjoyment of looking for an illusive bird that goes "peent" will have to be enough for the volunteers. There is no pay, although Banker said it would only be done in good weather so at the very least they are offering an enjoyable outing at the refuge. To volunteer, call Hanlon at (609) 463-0994.

The luckier volunteers may even witness the spectacular acrobatic flight of the courting male. The male will ascend in circles with his wings making a twittering sound as he rises. At close to 100 meters, the male will briefly hover before fluttering down to Earth like a falling leaf, singing and chirping as he descends. One account describes the sound as "melodic warbling."

There is less of that going on these days, and that is why the breeding survey, followed by decisions on managing the habitat, are needed, Banker said.

"Woodcock have suffered a decline of about 5 percent per year over the past 30 years in the eastern flyway. That is a really significant decline for any wildlife species," Banker said.

The good news is that last year was a good breeding year for woodcock because there was a lot of rain and this produced a bumper crop of worms.

"For a woodcock, it's as the worm turns," Banker joked.

Most of the Eastern population is now in the Southern states for the winter, but every year some try to make it through a Northeast winter. But when the ground freezes they can't eat.

This is one of the few times the public can witness the secretive birds as they seek out places where the ground is not frozen, such as underground sewer pipes on the side of the road. The other time woodcock are much easier to find is during the mating season.

Woodcock prefer young forests, such as abandoned fields where saplings are growing. The decline could be partly from abandoned farm fields growing into mature forests.

Knowledge from the woodcock survey here, part of a much larger data collection effort called the North American Woodcock Singing Ground Survey, will help decide how to manage the habitat. Hanlon said the Wildlife Service is already mowing some fields to create the "early successional forest" woodcock prefer.

Volunteers will have specific routes to follow and will use vehicles to cover the most ground. They will listen in each area for about two minutes, recording the number of woodcock, habitat, weather conditions, time after sunset and other data.

Hanlon said the main breeding areas are in Canada and Maine, but she did find breeding woodcock here last spring. The survey could lead to management measures not just for migrating woodcock but also for birds that are breeding here.

To e-mail Richard Degener at The Press:

RDegener@pressofac.com