March 2023 • Nebraskaland 45
While this scout-and-return method works best for
capturing birds in spring, it relies on males returning to the
same display location in successive nights to work. If a bird is
wary or dislikes changes to his display area, he may fi nd a new
location to do his little dance. In addition, the weather needs
to cooperate, as wind and precipitation are not conducive for
capturing woodcock, and strong south winds might convince
a male to migrate north. Such uncertainties are nothing new
in wildlife studies, as wild animals rarely, if ever, follow the
expectations of the researchers who study them.
Despite these challenges, we not only became competent
in capturing woodcock, we were profi cient at it by the end of
2022. We focused our eff orts away from the Missouri River
Valley, trapping birds at wildlife management areas near
Lincoln, Norfolk, Genoa and Burwell. During early spring
2021, we captured six woodcock and deployed fi ve satellite
transmitters. The following spring, we captured 10 woodcock
and deployed 10 additional satellite transmitters. With the
birds released and safely on their way, it was now a matter of
sitting back and waiting for data points to roll in.
Should I Stay or Should I Go?
Most migratory birds follow the typical pattern of spending
the colder months of the year in one place with favorable
conditions and then migrating some distance to breeding
areas, where they spend the warmer months. Usually these
three phases — wintering, migration and breeding — of a
bird's annual cycle are discrete time periods characterized
by distinct behaviors. Woodcock, however, appear to blur
the lines. Although it might be expected that a woodcock
arriving in Nebraska and engaging in breeding activities in
spring might be here for the entire summer, data from our
satellite transmitters showed this is not always the case.
Brenner holds a woodcock fi tted with a GPS transmitter at George Syas WMA in Platte County last April.
