The American woodcock, a ground-nesting bird that is typically shy and discreet, will aggressively charge at deer should they feel their eggs or chicks are threatened.
Although deer are unlikely to predate the nest of the woodcock, their size presents a potential risk as they move through the woodland edges where woodcocks breed. However, researchers from the University of Maine have recorded incidents where in defence, nesting woodcock postured towards, charged and even flew directly at approaching deer.
“Deer populations are sometimes considered over-abundant in many parts of the eastern United States, raising concerns about impacts to other species,” explained Erik Blomberg, Professor of Wildlife Population Ecology at the University of Maine. “This research illustrates that nesting woodcock are resilient and can use a variety of behaviours to defend their nests in systems where deer are abundant.”
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A wading bird from the family Scolopacidae, the American woodcock (Scolopax minor) is found across much of the eastern United States and south-east Canada. They have a mottled, cryptic plumage, which blends browns, greys and black, and matches the scrub and early successional forest edges where they are often found.
Woodcock are hugely dependent upon their camouflage, particularly when nesting, when they hunch their bodies and tuck their long, slender beaks into their chests. The eyes are positioned high on the head, allowing the bird a wide optical range while stationary.
“Woodcock incubate their eggs for three weeks which is long for smaller birds. The longer a hen sits, the more dedicated she becomes to defending that nest,” said Amber Roth, Associate Professor of Forest Wildlife Management at the University of Maine.
Researchers of the study – a collaboration between the University of Maine and the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources as part of the Eastern Woodcock Migration Research Cooperative – deployed cameras in 2024 and 2025 to record nest activity, and deer (primarily white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)) were observed at 68% of nest sites.
In the majority of the 73 instances that deer physically approached a nest, the hen woodcock remained unresponsive, but on 6 occasions, including two involving the same individual, the woodcock actively defended her nest. The ploy proved effective, with the deer leaving the area in every instance.
“While we only recorded a handful of instances, documenting these behaviours got us thinking more deeply about how birds could respond to deer as nest predators,” explained Kylie Brunette, lead researcher on the investigation that was first published in the journal Ecology.
“That small birds are willing to aggressively defend their nests against something as large as a deer, using different strategies based on the situation, opens a lot of interesting questions about how these unexpected interactions affect wildlife communities.”
Read more about the study, published in the journal Ecology.
Main image credit: University of Maine
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