* Scolopax rusticola Eurasian Woodcock

The Eurasian Woodcock ( Scolopax rusticola ) is a medium-small wading bird found in temperate and subarctic Eurasia.

The Eurasian Woodcock was given its current scientific name by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae in 1758.

About one third of the world's Eurasian Woodcock breed in Europe, with more than 90 % of the continent's population breeding in Russia and Fennoscandia.

Habitat: Białowieski Park Narodowy, PolandThe Eurasian Woodcock has a large range, with an estimated Global Extent of Occurrence of 10 million square kilometres and a population of an estimated 15 million to 16 million birds.

The most important threat to the population of the Eurasian Woodcock in the breeding range is the increased fragmentation of its woodland habitat.

In winter, Eurasian Woodcock also use scrubland during the day but in freezing weather they may use intertidal mud.

Eurasian Woodcock are crepuscular ( most active at dawn and dusk ) and rarely active during the day unless flushed, when they fly off with a whirring wing noise.

A study of spectrograms of the vocalisations of male Eurasian Woodcock showed that 95 % of calls could be attributed correctly to individual birds, and concluded that counting roding males was a suitable method of monitoring the population.

Eurasian Woodcock nest on the ground in low cover in woodland or tall heather.

Eurasian Woodcock forage in soft soil in thickets, usually well hidden from sight.

There are only low densities of Eurasian Woodcock in predominantly arable areas.

In 1821 William Bingley described a method of trapping Eurasian Woodcock formerly used in northern England: " Long parallel rows of stones or stick, four or five inches high, were made in moonlight nights on the commons frequented by them.

" A study conducted in Brittany, France, explored the factors affecting the populations of wintering Eurasian Woodcock.

In the United Kingdom, surveys are being conducted to improve knowledge of the number of breeding Eurasian Woodcock and the structure of their habitat.

Isotope analysis of feathers from Eurasian Woodcock shot in the UK is also being performed to establish the origins of the birds.

Eurasian Woodcock are considered at their best for culinary purposes from October to December.

Eurasian Woodcock stamp from Germany

It used to be thought that Eurasian Woodcock flew to the moon during the months when they were not seen and the first full moon in November, when large numbers arrive on the British coast, is sometimes described as the ' woodcock moon '.

The ' pin feather ' of the Eurasian Woodcock ( the covert feather of the outermost primary ) can be used as a fine paintbrush for miniatures, or as a delicate tool for moving tiny objects ( e. g. specks of dust ).

" The Eurasian Woodcock has been the subject of postage stamps from several countries.

Woodcock, Eurasian

# REDIRECT Eurasian Woodcock

It is slightly larger and longer-legged than Eurasian Woodcock, and may be conspecific.

From a geostructural perspective the Azores is located above an active triple junction between three of the world's large tectonic plates ( the North American Plate, the Eurasian Plate and the African Plate ), a condition that has translated into the existence of many faults and fractures in this region of the Atlantic.

It is located south of Asia Minor, the Anatolian peninsula of the Asian ( or Eurasian ) mainland ( now part of modern-day Turkey ), so it may be included in Western Asia or the Middle East: At a confluence of Western Asia, Southern Europe, and Northern Africa, Cyprus has had lengthy periods of mainly Greek and intermittent Anatolian, Levantine, Byzantine, and Western European influences.

Tattooing has been a Eurasian practice at least since Neolithic times.

The area has borne the brunt of the tectonic divergence between the African and Arabian plates and the converging Arabian and Eurasian plates, which has made the region a very diverse zone of high snow-covered mountains, fertile broad alluvial basins and desert plateau, which has also increased its biodiversity further and enabled the survival into historic times of species not found elsewhere.

Minsk has a warm summer humid continental climate ( Koppen Dfb ), owing to its location between the strong influence of the moist air of the Atlantic Ocean and the dry air of the Eurasian landmass.

Since the late Oligocene, the Iberian plate has been moving as part of the Eurasian plate, with the boundary between Eurasia and Africa situated along the Azores – Gibraltar fracture zone.

The Eared Dove ranges across the entirety of South America from Colombia to Tierra Del Fuego, the Eurasian Collared Dove has a massive ( if discontinuous ) distribution from Britain across Europe, the Middle East, India, Pakistan and China, and the Laughing Dove across most of sub-Saharan Africa as well as India, Pakistan and the Middle East.

Non-government sanctioned re-introduction of Eurasian beaver ( Castor fiber ) in Spain around 2003 has resulted in tell-tale beaver sign documented on a 60 km stretch on the lower course of the Aragon River and the area adjoining the Ebro River in Aragon, Spain.

For centuries, this species has been one of the most highly regarded birds used in falconry, with the Eurasian subspecies having been used to hunt and kill unnatural, dangerous prey such as Gray Wolves ( Canis lupus ) in some native communities.

Many species also take vegetable matter such as seeds and berries, some ( primarily the larger species ) will take small frogs / lizards, the Eurasian Wren has been recorded wading into shallow water to catch small fish and tadpoles, the Sumichrast's Wren and Zapata Wren will take snails, and the Giant Wren and Marsh Wren have been recorded attacking and eating bird eggs ( in the latter species, even eggs of conspecifics ).

Holkham NNR is important for its wintering wildfowl, especially Pink-footed Geese, Eurasian Wigeon and Brent Geese, but it also has breeding waders, and attracts many migrating birds in autumn.

Other research has cast doubt on the taxonomy of the Pica magpies, since it appears that P. hudsonia and P. nuttalli may not be different species, whereas the Korean race of P. pica is genetically very distinct from the other Eurasian ( as well as the North American ) forms.

For instance, Basque has been compared with every living and extinct Eurasian language family known, from Sumerian to South Caucasian, without conclusive results.

The Eurasian population in Cambodia has been in steady decline, as many have emigrated from Cambodia since the French withdrawal.

Russia also has a large number of people who could be classified as Eurasian. The Eurasian population in Pakistan, consisting of either Anglo-Indians who have emigrated to Pakistan or Pakistani born descendents of British people and local populations who intermarried during the British colonial period, numbers approximately 10, 000.

No similar object is known from Bronze Age Eurasian steppe cultures, and the object has been compared to the vajra thunderbolt of Indian Indra.

Analysis of mtDNA sequences has indicated that the Korean race, P. pica sericea, is very distinct from the other Eurasian forms, and may be a separate species.

Along with the Jackdaw, the Eurasian Magpie has been found to have a nidopallium approximately the same relative size as is found in chimpanzees and humans, and significantly larger than is found in the gibbon.

As well as the subspecies of the Hooded Crow being split off as a separate species, there is some discussion whether the Eastern Carrion Crow ( C. c. orientalis ) is distinct enough to warrant specific status ; the two taxa are well separated, and it has been proposed they could have evolved independently in the wetter, maritime regions at the opposite ends of the Eurasian landmass.

This sparrow breeds over most of temperate Eurasia and Southeast Asia, where it is known as the Tree Sparrow, and it has been introduced elsewhere including the United States, where it is known as the Eurasian Tree Sparrow or German Sparrow to differentiate it from the native unrelated American Tree Sparrow.

The Eurasian Tree Sparrow has no true song, but its vocalisations include an excited series of tschip calls given by unpaired or courting males.

That the Merlin has a long-standing presence on both sides of the Atlantic is evidenced by the degree of genetic distinctness between Eurasian and North American populations.