To the left: woodcock eggs.
Photo by Sandy Dannis.
To the right: grouse eggs.
Photo by Richard Carbonetti.
Our previous photo blog showed male woodcocks at twilight, strutting on their “singing grounds” in between courtship flights. This new batch of images, shared by Dalton, New Hampshire, landowner Sandy Dannis, shows the happy outcome of woodcock wooing. Notice how the eggs, chicks, and hen all have mottled patterns that blend in with the dappled light conditions of young hardwood forest.
Now compare the woodcock eggs to those of a grouse (courtesy of Richard Carbonetti, photographed this past weekend at Black Hills Timber LLC in Greensboro, Vermont). Grouse eggs are roughly the same size as woodcock eggs, but you typically find them in bigger clutches (9-14 eggs, as compared to a woodcock’s 1-5, according to Cornell’s “All About Birds” online guide). They’re also typically lighter in appearance, perhaps with speckles but no splotches.
Another way to tell the difference, if you discover hatched shells: grouse eggs tend to be opened on one end; woodcock eggs split along the side.
