
MASSACHUSETTS YICODCOCK STUDIES = 1955 
William G. Sheldon 
Massachusetts Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit, 
University of Massachusetts 
Spring trapping and banding of breeding male woodcocks was conducted 
on a sharply reduced Scale as compared with the previous five years. 
Although the trapping effort was less, former singing grounds which had 
ee birds were carefully censused to ascertain whether birds were 
present. 
Project efforts are being shifted from spring to summer. It is now 
planned to do no more spring trapping except on certain local areas with 
a high breeding density. Netting methods for summer captures have been 
much improved over former years, 
Spring Activities 
Results of banding.--Sixty-nine woodcocks were captured. Five of 
these were chicks from two broods and one was a female, There were 11 
returns. Four of these had shifted singing grounds for distances rang- 
ing from 1/4 mile to 3/4 mile from original banding sites. Two of the 
returns were birds which had been netted during the summer of 195. Only 
one bird at least 5 years old was recaptured. There were two repeats of 
birds recaptured on different singing grounds. Both birds had moved 
approximately a mile. None of the four 5-year birds captured in 195k 
were recaptured. 
A singing male woodcock, #523-07611, banded on Martha's Vineyard 
Island in April 1953, was picked up dead under a power line on the island 
in late February 1955. There are a number of reports of birds wintering 
on the Vineyard so there is no way of knowing whether this woodcock was 
& permanent resident or a returning migrant. 
Populations in Quabbin Reservatione--In the Massachusetts study areas, 
there are three widely separated trapping grounds inside Quabbin Reserva- 
tion. Two of these areas, Prescott Peninsula and Gate 0, have virtually 
been untouched since trapping started in 1950. Most of the open fields 
were planted to red and white pine. The red pine now dominates these plan- 
tations and growth has averaged almost 3 feet a year, Fringe covers of 
grey birch and aspen have also been growing rapidly. It was suspected two 
years ago that both areas, and especially Prescott Peninsula, were rapidly 
growing beyond optimum woodcock spring habitat. Details on some of the 
vegetative changes will comprise a separate study. Suffice it to say that 
there is little question that such changes have been responsible for a 
steadily dropping population in both areas, Lack of suitable singing 
sites does not appear to be an important limiting factor. It is a question 
of the changing condition of the entire woodcock habitat. A,drop became 
noticeable in 1953. The number of occupied singing grounds on both areas, 
clearly illustrates the trend; these were: 1951 - 743 1952 - 7h; 1953 - G43 
195 - 523 1955 - 43. The drop in breeding birds is not interpreted as a 
fall in population in the state, but as a result of changing vegetation. 
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