American Woodcock Singing Grounds Survey

Birds Canada
https://www.birdscanada.org

Canadian Wildlife Service
http://www.ec.gc.ca/

Pennsylvania Game Commission

United States Geological Survey

United States National Park Service

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry
http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/

Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department

Michigan Department of Natural Resources

Minnesota Department Natural Resources

New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources

New Jersey Division of Fish, Game and Wildlife

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
http://dnr.wi.gov/

Project name: American Woodcock Singing Ground Survey

Goals : SGS data have been used to develop population and habitat goals for the American Woodcock Conservation Plan (https://www.fws.gov/media/american-woodcock-conservation-plan) and provide the primary population metrics used for the US Harvest Strategy (https://www.fws.gov/media/interim-american-woodcock-harvest-strategy).

Dataset summary : The American Woodcock Singing-ground Survey (SGS) is a long-term road-side survey that began in 1968. The SGS is administered by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in cooperation with the Canadian Wildlife Service (CWS), 19 state agencies, 6 provincial agencies, and volunteers. Data from the SGS provide natural resource managers with an index of American Woodcock (Scolopax minor) population abundance by taking advantage of the conspicuous breeding call of the male woodcock. When obtaining data via the website, you will have access to count data (total heard peenting) at the stop level for individual states and provinces from 2024-present. Eventually historical count data from 1968-2023 will be uploaded into NatureCounts for public use. Until that time, please contact Rebecca Rau, Rebecca_rau@fws.gov with any historical data requests

Year started : 1968

Years (comments) : Ongoing

Season(s) and frequency : A subset of routes are surveyed one time each spring on an annual basis.

Frequency : Annually

Geographic area covered : Coverage includes states and provinces that fall within the central and northern portions of the woodcock's breeding range. A visual image of this can be found in Figure 1 within the annual population status report (https://www.fws.gov/library/collections/american-woodcock-population-status-reports).

Primary species covered : American Woodcock (Scolopax minor)

Sampling Design : Defined frame with random sampling, see the Methods section within the annual status report for more information: https://www.fws.gov/library/collections/american-woodcock-population-status-reports

Field methods : See training documents included in https://migbirdapps.fws.gov/woodcock/trainingtooldocs.htm and https://naturecounts.ca/nc/amwo/resources.jsp

Analysis methods : See reference

Data validation : See training documents included in https://migbirdapps.fws.gov/woodcock/trainingtooldocs.htm and https://naturecounts.ca/nc/amwo/resources.jsp

Data caveats : Please refer to the Data Disclaimer statement.

Publications : American Woodcock Population Status Reports: •https://www.fws.gov/library/collections/american-woodcock-population-status-reports