Erwin J.O. Kompanje (2025) Eurasian Woodcocks Scolopax rusticola with abnormally short beaks in the Netherlands. LIMOSA 98 (3): 117-126.

The Eurasian Woodcock has a long straight lance-shaped beak with a length between 63 and 84 millimetres. Sometimes, although very rarely, Woodcocks are found to have a much shorter beak of less than 60 millimetres. The Woodcock is variable in colour and size. Hunters used to distinguish between the ‘small northern’ and the ‘large eastern’ Woodcocks. The Woodcocks with the abnormally short beaks belong without exception to the ‘small northern’ variant. ‘Short beaks’ are only found in western European countries during the migration and wintering period. ‘Short beaks’ are not known from the western European breeding populations. Roding Woodcocks with abnormally short beaks are known from north-west Russia. A genetic mutation is probably the cause of the deviation. So far, 21 ‘short beaks’ have been known from the Netherlands, all found between November and February.

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