New Study Proves Drab Woodcocks Hide Amazing Tail Feathers

The European woodcock spends a lot of time on the forest floor, and so much of its plumage is mottled brown, beige, and black – perfect camouflage for foraging in the leaf litter. But underneath this unassuming bird is a flashy secret: tailfeathers that are whiter than any ever measured.

Ornithologists from the UK’s Natural History Museum painstakingly measured the “reflectance spectra” in the tailfeathers and determined they are more brilliant than any known – an astonishing 30 percent more reflective than the next-brightest. Their study appears in the Journal of the Royal Society: Interface.

“If you look at woodcocks from the back, they are very camouflaged, very dull brown and mottled,” says Alex Bond, Curator in Charge of Birds at the Museum and co-author of the study. “But when you turn it around and spread its tail feathers it is amazing and white. And when you actually measure these feathers, it is the whitest feather that anyone has ever measured. They have the greatest reflectance.”

The Eurasian or European woodcock (Scolopax rusticola) is a wading bird – slender legs, plump body, long thin bill – but unlike other waders it spends a lot of time on dry land. It’s easy to see how the dusky feathers evolved, to allow the bird to blend in with its surroundings.

But what of the flashy tailfeathers, worn by both the male and female of the species? Probably for courtship purposes. During the summer breeding season, the birds are no longer interested in being inconspicuous. The male will vocalize while flapping wings in a behavior known as “roding,” while the female flashes her tail up and down in an avian come-hither mode.

“They are a really active, crepuscular bird that makes these really fantastic whooshing noises in the forest if you go out around dusk in the summer,” explains Bond. “They are absolutely gorgeous.”