Chapter 3 - Lowland Game Birds

Wild Turkey | Jacksnipe | Woodcock | Clapper Rail

The familiar barnyard gobbler is the same species as the wild turkey. It has merely adapted itself, with the aid of man, to live with the other fowl of the farm rather than stay in woods where it first came from.

Everybody knows what the barnyard turkey looks like, since he is the traditional bird of the Thanksgiving and Christmas table. The early explorers of our country depended upon him for many a main course at the family table.

Yet, this bird in the wild state is perhaps the most tricky and hardest to stalk of any of the game birds of America (due to its shy and alert nature) even though it is a large bird, our largest. He is a recluse of the dense forests, hardly ever ranging in the open country particularly when men with guns are abroad. In the early days the wild turkey roamed over almost all the land, but the inroads of civilization caused him to retreat until today he is found only in the remotest woods and swamps. Conservation departments of the various states where where he formerly lived in peace are trying to stage a comeback for him by restocking and protecting him from over hunting and predators. It is a long hard pull against heavy odds. In New York State, for instance, stocking the woods of the state forests has gradually re-established the bird in several very small areas. Working from farmer stock bred with captured wild birds, a strain has been developed which seems to be holding on. The southland states of Florida, Georgia and their neighbors have many areas where the wild turkey is still found in great abundance.

This is the only game bird which can also be shot legally with a rifle as well as a shotgun. Dogs are no help in turkey hunting. The hunter uses a small call to attract the bird, or attempts to hold his attention until he can be seen or approached. The turkey will run every time rather than flush into the air. It is a rare and beautiful sight to see one streaking through the pines in full flight with its powerful wings biting the air and its magnificent tail spread.

The male grows to a length of forty-eight inches, the female, usually about thirty-seven inches. Both have a wing-spread of about five feet, and weigh between fifteen and twenty pounds.

Gobblers live where they can feed on acorns, nuts, berries, plants, seeds, and insects. They lay between nine and eighteen eggs, each spring and grow to a ripe old age of twelve years.

Their tail feathers were used by the Indians for tribal costumes, especially when eagle feathers were not obtainable. Today their feathers are of value to trout fly tiers and are also for other decorative purposes. As for their use as food, they are much superior in flavor to their farm-raised brothers, but of course, the flabby farm stock is much more tender.

If you live in an area where the turkey was once a "native," try to get the local gun club boys to cooperate with the state conservation department to attempt reintroducing the turkey to your woodlands. You can probably enlist the help of an owner of private posted land, or use an Audubon sanctuary for your initial stocking.

The Jacksnipe, or common snipe, is found 'round the world wherever there is dampness, mud and worms, and has entertained hunters and naturalists for many years.

It is a native bird which migrates south only when forced to by bad winter weather. It is very similar to many of the other snipe and shore birds and the hunter has to be very careful not to shoot birds that are protected. Because it is a migrator, it is itself protected by federal regulations modified by the various states in which the bird resides or travels. Many states do not have an open season on the bird.

For many years the jack, along with other shore birds was heading for a low point, and possible extinction. Much market hunting combined with extensive swamp drainage helped in large measure, to cause their downfall. In recent years they have been making a slow comeback until it has been possible to open the season on them in some states.

They are readily identified by their long bill, striped head and, when walking or standing, their long neck. Their habit of constantly tipping up in a nervous jerk is common to all the snipe tribe. Their movement on their long thin legs is fast and constant as they look for food along the banks, near the water and in the grassy muddy spots along lake shores, inlets and swamps.

Snipe are active mostly at dusk and dawn, flocking at these times to some extent. During the day they are relatively inactive and not too easy to locate.

When surprised they utter a rasping "escape, escape" blurping sound and usually utter it as they take off from the ground. Usually they are found by hunters in small bands, but take to the air, one or two at a time. They can be approached quite easily in the high grass. They will make short flights ahead of the gunners to be easily put up again. About the third or fourth time they will rise too far ahead of the shooters.

They can be attracted by decoys made to their shape and size. Usually these are placed along a shoreline known to be visited by them at feeding times. When the flight passes over and sees the decoys they generally light among them, look them over and start feeding, forgetting that they are there. This is the time for the photographer who is armed with a flash gun to get his pictures.

The woodcock is called the "Timberdoodle" by hunters and bird watchers, and is one of the trickiest fliers of all the game birds and the most difficult to locate in singles or in flocks. They are migratory and are seen best during the spring and fall periods of movement since they flock ^up at these times. "Woodies" are small, seldom weighing over a quarter of a pound.

Woodcock differ from other similar shore and marsh birds in that they have a very short neck, supporting a small head and extra long bill. In flight their head seems to be set right on their shoulders just ahead of their fast beating wings. They have very big eyes and their upper parts are colored like a confusion of dead leaves. Only their head has conspicuous bar markings of alternating black and light tan.

Woodcock are solitaries, preferring the swamps, wet woods and damp thickets. They feed mostly at dawn, dusk and through the night and can be found wherever there are muddy sections where they can find succulent worms and grubs.

During the migrating season, particularly in the northeastern states, the birds from as far north as Newfoundland and Nova Scotia mix with the resident birds to form an enlarged population for the bird watcher and hunter. The first cold rains and winds of fall generally start them on their southern trip and it is at this time that hunters seek them out for what is known as the greatest little game bird in all the land.

When they rise either in front of a lone hunter or a sporting dog, they do not run or hide as the pheasant or turkey, but rise boldly into quick dashing flight straight up and out. Usually they sound off with a surprised burplike call. Even though they travel in flocks they seldom rise together. More than three or four rising at once would be the exception.

The female lays from two to five eggs and the young quickly learn the ways to the nearest mud puddle and start digging with their bills for worms and grubs.

Since they are migratory, they are subject to federal as well as state government conservation laws and, as such, will be protected from overshooting and guaranteed protection along their migratory routes with wildlife sanctuaries. Much of their natural breeding grounds and feeding stations have been developed for real estate and farming, but their protection is assured for years to come.

This game bird is a "cycle" bird, vulnerable to periodic disease and thus great variances in numbers. One year, the flight will be exceptionally large and then the next year there will be only a few birds. They are not strong and therefore cannot resist sudden and drastic temperature changes. Since their food consists mostly of worms if they fail to depart for the South soon enough, whole flocks can suddenly perish. They are also subject to pollution, and since many of our mud flat areas are often polluted, this is a source of trouble.

I have done some of my best woodcock hunting in Nova Scotia, Maine and central New York State, and often found them in company with the ruffed grouse, though generally they prefer the more swampy areas and damp thickets.

Photographing the woodcock on the ground is quite an experience. It calls for exceptional ability to stalk. A good bird dog that will "hold" the bird to the ground for long periods of time before flushing is almost a requisite, unless you are filming the nest in the springtime. Catching them in the air on film' is another difficult trick, but can be done if you consider your camera as a gun and actually "shoot" the bird in flight. You will seldom get a second chance. If you do manage to get a good unblurred photo of a woodcock in the air you can be most proud.

The best hours are morning and evening. This calls for a flash gun attachment on your camera and a mighty bright one.

Like the feathers of many of the birds described in this book, those of the woodcock are extremely valuable for fly-tying purposes. If you happen to be a trout fisherman, or have a fisherman friend, always save the wings on game birds, and the flank feathers as well on all ducks.

"Let's go rail hunting!" is the suggestion which is made each September by hunters along the Eastern Seaboard from Maine to Florida. Despite the fact that there are several species of gallinules (rails) quite similar to each other, the clapper rail is the game species. It is important to know how to distinguish this bird from the others, for shooting the wrong one will mean breaking the law.

"Mr. Clapper" is a sixteen inch long bird with a rather long bill, heavy though rather long neck supported by a rather plump body, and broad wings which in turn is supported by long legs and feet equipped to carry it with speed across the mud flats and marshes.

The forehead is a dusky color, the rest of the body a pale olive, ashy color. The distinct identifying marks are on the underparts and under the tail, colored with alternating bands of off-white and muddy rust.

Hunting technique is employed usually by the use of a boat or scow which is paddled and poled along the edges of marshes and swamps, or along the streams coursing through the muck. Some hunters walk and wade, but in most cases this proves to be a hard job with the possibility of a dangerous fall or a sinking into the mire. The birds are generally easy to locate and will flush quite near the gun at the beginning of the season. After they have been hunted over for some time, they become smart and run for quite a distance before taking off. They are not a covey bird so seldom rise up in a group. Usually they flush in singles or at the most, in pairs.

Why rail hunting has become popular is a mystery to some sportsmen. Certainly the bird is no great taste treat at the table, nor is it a particularly tricky flier. Perhaps it is because this is the first bird that is legal at the beginning of the hunting season that brings the sportsmen out.

Their nests make interesting subjects for the wildlife photographer. They are easily discovered and the parents don't seem to mind too close intrusion. The little ones, numbering usually from six to fifteen are glossy black in color, and are quite clumsy, waddling and swaying in their nest of dead grasses set on a platform in a clump of high grass. They seem to like to nest in communities. Where you find one nest you will usually find several nearby. While out visiting them you will also become acquainted with several other rail and shorebird species of interest, although they are, except for the jacksnipe, protected from gunning.

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