American Woodcock, Meet the Timberdoodle

If I was to personify the American Woodcock, it would be the person who marches to the beat of their own drum. The kid in high school who always tucked his tshirts into his jeans, or the black sheep in the family. The one who is comfortable with their nonconformity because, well, it just makes sense to them. This bird is comfortable in its own feathers, and it should be. In some ways, it was literally built backwards from how most other birds are. But the differences don t stop there. It dances, it struts, it becomes motionless when threatened. Packed within this robinsized bird is a ton of endearing quirkiness. It s hard not to adore these birds. Like a pet with a long list of nicknames, this bird has several monikers. It answers to the timberdoodle, the bog sucker, the hokumpoke, the Labrador twister, the mudsnipe and the night partridge. Scolopax minor is its scientific name, and although it is technically a type of sandpiper and considered a shore bird, it s more likely