Outdoors: This secretive bird can be hard to spot and has quite an odd reputation

Walking through my local wood a few weeks ago, the ground in front of me suddenly erupted as a brown blurry missile streaked upwards, weaving its way through the bare trees with flickering wings and then a short glide before suddenly dropping out of sight. It was all over in a flash, the quietness of the wood belying the drama of the scene that had just unfolded.

It was a woodcock, one of our more unusual birds. For much of the year it is almost invisible, its cryptic mottled-brown camouflage concealing it well during the day as it lies motionless on the woodland floor, only to emerge as darkness falls to seek out favoured feeding sites in damp and boggy margins.

Winter is a good time to see the woodcock, as the resident population is supplemented by the arrival of large numbers of migrants from Scandinavia and Russia. The camouflaged brown marbled and barred plumage couldn't be more perfect to hide amongst dead leaves and other ground litter, which makes seeing a woodcock such a special experience.

The bird has big eyes set far back on a round head, providing good all-round peripheral vision, enabling it to detect the approach of danger. However, the woodcock generally prefers to sit tight relying on its camouflage for protection, only taking flight when it is about to get trodden upon. For every woodcock disturbed during the course of a woodland walk, one wonders how many others must be passed by without being seen. It is this secretiveness combined with its speed and agility on the wing that makes the woodcock such a prized quarry amongst game shooters.

There is much folklore surrounding the woodcock, probably because of its mysterious nature and unusual appearance. Up until the 18th century, it was widely believed that woodcocks went to the moon every autumn. Whilst that may well be a flight of fancy, there is one intriguing facet of its behaviour that is certainly within the bounds of reality – woodcocks carrying their offspring.

There are many reliable reports of the mother bird carrying a chick between her legs when danger threatens. TA Coward, the early 20th century ornithologist, recounted several eyewitness accounts of this happening, including observers noting that the chick was "held between the thighs" and "kept in position by means of the depressed bill".

Whilst female mammals will frequently carry their young, as will some waterfowl on their backs, it is virtually unknown amongst land birds.

Woodcocks are at their most conspicuous from March until the end of spring when at dusk and dawn the male performs his strange "roding" display by flying at tree-top level, the wings beating slow and owl-like, and the bird intermittently uttering a strange frog-like croak followed by a screech. Each bird has a favoured circuit it regularly patrols, and if you wait awhile after seeing one, it won't be long before he is back again.

The long bill of the woodcock is well served to probe for worms in muddy ditches and damp pastures. Very cold winters are bad news for the bird as its foraging sites become frozen over. When this happens many woodcock move west, to locations such as the Inner and Outer Hebrides, as well as to Ireland, to try and find frost-free areas in which to feed.

Recent survey data appears to show a significant decline in breeding numbers of woodcock, but because such work tends to be biased towards southern England and the bird is so difficult to census, it is uncertain if such falls have also occurred in Scotland.

The woodcock is very susceptible to habitat change, with maturing conifer plantations, the drying out of natural woodlands and drainage of permanent pasture all cited as possible reasons for the decline in the overall numbers of this rather unique bird.

This article was first published in The Scotsman, 12 February, 2011