The American Woodcock Society (AWS) and Ruffed Grouse Society (RGS) are asking hunters training dogs this spring, bird watchers and outdoorsmen/women to participate in the National American Woodcock Migration Mapping System, an online tool to track the spring and fall migrations of the American woodcock. Woodcock enthusiasts are encouraged to enter their woodcock sightings and activity reports through April 30, 2016.

“This mapping is provided to display the progress of American woodcock migration so that dog trainers and birders have an idea when the birds should be in their area and they in turn provide their own reports that benefit others along the migration path.  Data is collected and displayed on daily, weekly, monthly and seasonal maps, providing a visual reference for online viewers of the migration’s progress,” said AWS and RGS Public Education Manager Ron Burkert.

The mapping system relies on daily migration data provided by outdoorsmen/women and bird watchers. Users simply enter the zip-code for the area where the woodcock activity occurred, select if the activity is light, medium, heavy, or at its peak and click submit. A link is provided to access the USPS Zip-code look up based on the nearest town to the activity.

This is the tenth year AWS and RGS are providing this real-time tracking of the annual American woodcock migrations, having initiated the maps in 2006.

The feature is available from the AWS and RGS home page www.ruffedgrousesociety.org or directly at www.ruffedgrousesociety.org/migration-map.