BIRDS OF THE ST. CROIX RIVER VALLEY 



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species. Nesting has been recorded in all counties. Surber (1919) made ref- 

 erence to the abundance of this species in Pine County during the early 

 1900's. 



Habitat: American woodcock use a variety of habitats for nesting. In the 

 Western Upland, nesting birds use mesic Southern Deciduous Forest and 

 Lowland Deciduous Forest. In the Central Plain and Northern Highland, 

 open stands of medium-aged aspen and maple forest and Alder Thickets pro- 

 vide optimum nesting habitat. Recently, Deciduous Clear Cuts have been 

 found to provide important nesting habitat. 



Common Snipe {Gallinago gallinago) 



Status: Regular migrant and nesting species, casual in winter. 



Migration: Common to locally abundant migrant throughout the Valley. 

 Spring migrants arrive in the Western Upland about 20 March, reaching the 

 Northern Highland about 1 April. Peak abundance during spring migration 

 occurs 20 April to 1 May. Fall migration begins with the flocking of family 

 groups in mid-August. Peak abundance occurs between 25 September and 

 10 October and departure by 15 November. 



Nesting Season Distribution: Uncommon nesting species in the Western 

 Upland, common in the Central Plain and Northern Highland. Confirmed 

 nest records have been obtained from Burnett and Polk counties. 



Winter: There are eight late December records ranging from 19 December 

 (1976) to 3 January (1976) in St. Croix and Washington counties. These are 

 all CBC records. The largest count was 12 individuals on the Suburban St. 

 Paul CBC, 30 December 1961. There is only one midwinter record (15 Feb- 

 ruary 1973, Pierce County) for the Valley. 



Habitat: Highest densities of nesting common snipe occur in Northern 

 Sedge Meadow. Stream banks and semipermanently flooded wetlands 

 provide important habitat in the Central Plain and Western Upland. In the 

 Northern Highland, breeding common snipe use openings in Black 

 Spruce-Tamarack Bogs and Alder Thicket, in addition to Northern Sedge 

 Meadow. 



Short-billed Dowitcher [Limnodromus griseus) 

 Status: Regular migrant. 



Migration: Uncommon to rare migrant throughout the Valley. Most records 

 are from the Western Upland and from Crex Meadows, Burnett County. 

 Spring migrants arrive about 10 May and have departed by 30 May. Fall 

 migrants arrive about 25 July (earliest— 9 July 1965, St. Croix County) and 

 have departed by 15 September. A short-billed dowitcher that I banded near 

 Roberts, St. Croix County, on 16 August 1975 was recovered in Guyana, 

 South America, in September 1976. Identification of this species and the 

 long-billed dowitcher is compounded by nearly identical plumage charac- 

 teristics. 



