One of the oddest looking of Iowa’s birds, the woodcock is basically a fat ball with a long bill. Woodcocks inhabit moist second-growth woods such as willow thickets, especially in northeastern Iowa. There they use their long bill, complete with sensitive touch receptors on the tip, to probe in soft soil and capture worms, their main food item. Woodcock are especially known for their unusual twilight courtship display. It starts with the male calling from the ground and continues as the bird flies high overhead and then descends, giving a loud peent call from the air. Once common in Iowa, woodcock have suffered both from habitat loss and hunting. For many years, the hunting season was closed but for several decades limited hunting has been allowed in Iowa. Woodcock populations have shown some evidence of a gradual decline throughout their range for several decades but the reasons for this are poorly understood.
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indicates a designated IBA.