The American woodcock is known for its dancing, not combat skills. But researchers at the University of Maine have captured what might be the first recorded instance of a ground-nesting bird defending itself against a deer.
White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are opportunistic omnivores, occasionally eating eggs and even baby birds. American woodcock (Scolopax minor) hens, who nest in leaf litter, usually sit stock-still to hide themselves and their nests from predators. Their feathers also blend in with the ground around them.
But during a game camera study in April 2024, researchers at the University of Maine recorded six instances of woodcocks defending their nests against deer.
Scientist were baffled when they witnessed woodcocks fiercely defend their nests from an animal that could easily eat or trample them to death.
“That small birds are willing to aggressively defend their nests against something as large as a deer, using different strategies based on the situation, opens a lot of interesting questions about how these unexpected interactions affect wildlife communities,” said Kylie Brunette, lead author on the paper and a doctoral student at the University of Maine, in a press release.
The woodcocks only displayed the defensive behavior a minority of the time: only six instances recorded over 73 recordings of deer approaching woodcock nests.
In the other 67 interactions, the birds relied on their camouflage.
“While we only recorded a handful of instances, documenting these behaviors got us thinking more deeply about how birds could respond to deer as nest predators,” Brunette said.
