Stats

Lifespan

8-12 yrs

Size

Small

Diet

Insectivore

Activity

Crepuscular

Social

Solitary

Biome

Temperate forest

Range

North America

Movement

Flight

Breeding

Egg-laying

Defense

Camouflage

Status

Uncommon

About

This chunky bird lives on the forest floor across eastern North America. It uses a flexible, prehensile beak tip to pull earthworms from the soil while its eyes remain shut.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   egg

   A clutch of eggs is incubated in the nest, kept warm by a brooding parent until the chicks pip free.
2. 2.
   hatchling

   A naked or downy hatchling is fed in the nest by its parents.
3. 3.
   juvenile

   A feathered juvenile fledges from the nest and learns to fly and forage.
4. 4.
   adult

   Fully grown with adult plumage.

Learn more

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Aves

Order

Charadriiformes

Family

Scolopacidae

Genus

Scolopax

Species

Scolopax minor