
Perhaps some of these birds follow the Great Valley or segments 
of it. This valley, which is made up of a series of valleys, begins 
in the upper Lake Champlain region and extends to north-central 
Alabama. In southwestern Virginia the western rim of the valley is 
broken by rivers which flow toward the Ohio River. Divides formed 
by these rivers provide a convenient crossing for woodcock. 
The Ohio Valley Route 
Woodcock from New York State and perhaps parts of Quebec and 
Ontario move along a route through western New York and northwest 
Pennsylvania, where they are joined by birds coming from New England. 
From this junction point, they move down the Ohio Valley to the 
Mississippi River and thence south. Many Michigan woodcock follow 
this same route from southern Indiana. However, some woodcock from 
Michigan migrate about due south to the Gulf States. 
Mississippi Valley Route 
Because of intensive farming in the Mississippi Valley most 
of the good woodcock cover is restricted to streambottoms. Therefore 
it is likely that woodcock breeding in Wisconsin and Minnesota mi- 
grate along the Mississippi River. 
Rate and Number of Band Recoveries 
A thorough analysis of woodcock band returns cannot be made 
until the third or fourth year after banding. Thomson (1929) in 
summarizing returns from 28) “uropean woodcock stated that 95 per 
cent of the bands had been received by the end of the fourth year. 
Sheldon (1956) indicates that there is an annual mortality of 3 
per cent of adults and 69 per cent of chicks for the American wood- 
cock. From the banding of 2128 woodcock in Louisiana, 93 bands were 
returned by the end of the third year, with annual cumulative rates 
of 54, 87 and 9h per cent. 
The 93 bands revresent a return of ll.) ver cent of the 2128 
woodcock. Forty-three bands (2.0%) were returned from outside 
Lowisiana while 50 (2.3%) were recovered in Louisiana at least one 
or more migration seasons later. 
It is evident from the hiatuses that appear on the map based on 
the small return of bands from outside the states of banding, that 
many more woodcock must be banded in order to depict migration routes 
accurately. 
54 
