
WOODCOCK CENSUS STUDIES IN NORTHEASTERN UNITED STATES - 1956 
Howard Le Mendall, Leader 
Maine Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit 
University of Maine 
The 1956 woodcock census data for the New England States and New York 
were compiled by the writer who, as in previous years, served as coordinator 
for the northeastern region. 
No changes were made in the census technique this year. A few old 
routes were dropped but several new routes were established in all states, 
This was especially gratifying in the case of New Hampshire where previous 
censusing had been confined to one area, ‘ 
Geographical coverage throughout the region in 1956 was the best ever 
obtained. However, the total volume of data available for comparison was 
slightly less than in 1955. This was occasioned primarily because the. 
Prescott Peninsula routes in Massachusetts were not included this year. 
This extensive area has been abandoned at the suggestion of William Sheldon 
who felt that cover conditions had changed adversely to such an extent that 
accurate census trends wouldrot be obtained. 
The 1956 census results by areas are shown in Table 1. The areas 
within a given state are grouped by counties and the counties arranged in 
alphabetical order. For comparison, the 1955 index figure is given for 
all except the new or revised routes, | 
Table 2 shows a summary by states of the 1956 data including that from 
both old and new routes. 
Table 3 gives comparative figures for 1955 and 1956 for all routes 
which were run in both years, The 1955 index figures are not necessarily 
the same as those given in last year's report. Some of the 1955 routes 
were dropped this year and the index figures were adjusted to permit a 
direct comparison. 
The census results indicated a general reduction in woodecock popula- 
tions this year in all states, Although the percentage of decrease was 
slightly less than that which occurred last year, it may be of significance 
that this reduced population has occurred throughout the region for the 
second consecutive year, . 
Part of the decrease may have been more apparent than real. It was 
the opinion of most census takers that unusually adverse weather for 
checking occurred during the census period. This followed a retarded spring 
which found the birds very late in returning north. Thus, some of the co- 
operators who handled several routes were sometimes forced to census when 
optimum weather was not prevailing. 
Population decreases were less noticeable in New York, Connecticut 
and Massachusetts than in the northern New England States. This might 
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