RINGS REVEAL THE SECRETS OF WOODCOCK

Woodcocks have many secrets. They are not gregarious birds, active at night, migratory - not always nearby. Philopatric - that is, they almost always return with an accuracy of 10 meters (!) not only to their birthplace, but also to their wintering place, as the rings and GPS/GSM beacons "say", in 16 countries of the world. And this is without the Far East and Asia! But where do woodcocks fly in the first year of their life, because in one clearing there can be nesting birds that have arrived from different places and countries of wintering... To the country of their father who wintered in Scandinavia or their mother who flew in from wintering in France? How do they decide where to fly? Nobody knows. Woodcocks settle evenly and everywhere where the moist soils are rich in fat earthworms. They don't need competitors, they like to eat themselves! A careful study of the ring return database gave us proof that chicks from one brood fly to different places, and even countries: On May 29, 1956, two chicks were ringed in Latvia, which were BOTH killed! This is the ONLY registered case in more than 100 years of ringing these birds. The first woodcock was killed in France in the Saône-et-Loire department on March 27, 1960, the second was killed in Italy in the province of Gorizia & Udine on October 19 of the same year. The ring numbers are 292666 and 292664, respectively. Let's say thank you to the ringers who, receiving only 10-12% of their rings returned, help to reveal the secrets of forest waders.