Wildlife Garden DecoBird Woodcock 19.3 cm hand-carved & hand-painted

At a glance

• large hand-carved and hand-painted woodcock
• Model: Eurasian woodcock (Scolopax rusticola)
• unmistakable due to its exceptionally long beak
• round, sturdy body with finely graduated camouflage plumage
• hand-painted with water-based paint
• Dimensions: 19.3 × 8.5 × 15.0 cm
• Weight: approx. 260 g
• for indoor use
• includes a booklet with information about the bird species

Product details

• Brand: Wildlife Garden
• Series: DecoBird
• Bird species: Woodcock
• Scientific name: Scolopax rusticola
• Item number: WG4450
• EAN: 7350054766265
• Material: hand-carved wood
• Paint: water-based paint
• Length: 19.3 cm
• Width: 8.5 cm
• Height: 15.0 cm
• Weight: approx. 260 g
• Use: indoor
• Other: booklet with information about the bird species

A bird you can recognize by its beak

With the woodcock, you don't have to look far for its most characteristic feature. The exceptionally long, straight beak defines its entire silhouette.

Added to this are a compact, rounded body, relatively short legs, and large eyes positioned far back on the head. Wildlife Garden has captured these unusual proportions beautifully in their DecoBird.

The woodcock – Scolopax rusticola

The woodcock belongs to the sandpiper family. Unlike many of its relatives, however, it is not primarily a bird of open shorelines and mudflats, but is closely associated with woodland areas.

Its brown, beige, and dark-patterned plumage provides excellent camouflage on the forest floor among leaves, branches, and plant debris.

Often, you only notice a woodcock when it flushes right in front of you.

The long beak is a tool

The striking beak of the woodcock is no quirk of nature. The bird uses it to search for food in soft soil.

It is particularly useful for detecting and consuming earthworms and other small ground-dwelling animals between the soil and leaf litter.

The beak is a wonderful example of how directly a bird's body shape is linked to its way of life.

Large eyes for life at twilight

In addition to the beak, the large eyes of the woodcock are striking. They are positioned unusually far back and on the sides of the head.

This gives the bird a very large field of vision – a sensible adaptation for a ground-dwelling creature that needs to keep its surroundings in view as much as possible.

Woodcocks are particularly active at twilight. The combination of camouflage plumage, large eyes, and a specialized beak fits this rather secretive lifestyle perfectly.

The striking courtship flight

During courtship, the otherwise secretive behavior of the woodcock changes. At twilight, the male repeatedly flies specific routes over its territory.

This behavior is known as a courtship or territorial flight and is called “roding” in English. Wildlife Garden also addresses this characteristic courtship flight in its information about the woodcock.

19.3 cm long and 260 grams in weight

The DecoBird woodcock measures 19.3 × 8.5 × 15.0 cm and weighs around 260 g. This makes it clearly one of the larger and more substantial figures within the series.

The weight is also important information for online purchases here. 260 g conveys the actual substance of the hand-carved wooden figure much better than a product photo.

Due to its long beak, the woodcock also requires a bit more space than a compact songbird of the same body size.

Hand-carved and hand-painted

Wildlife Garden has the woodcock hand-carved from wood and then painted with water-based colors.

With this bird, the challenge is not in bright colors. The key lies in the natural brown, beige, and darker tones that create the typical camouflage pattern of the plumage.

The unusual body shape with the long beak and rounded body must also be accurate for a carved bird figure to be clearly identified as a woodcock.

Due to the manual manufacturing process and the natural material, minor variations in wood grain, carving, and painting may occur. These are part of the individual character of each figure.

For indoor use

In line with the current direction of the DecoBird series, the hand-carved woodcock is intended as a decorative figure for indoor use.

With a length of 19.3 cm, a height of 15 cm, and a weight of 260 g, it can stand very well on its own on a sideboard, a dresser, or a larger shelf.

With information about the bird species

The DecoBird comes with a booklet containing information about the woodcock.

With this model, Wildlife Garden again combines expert craftsmanship with information about the real bird that served as the inspiration.

My assessment

For me, the woodcock is one of those DecoBirds that particularly well demonstrates that Wildlife Garden is not just about a prettily painted wooden figure. This bird lives through its unusual design.

The long beak, the stocky body, and the large eyes positioned far back are all related to its lifestyle. If the proportions aren't right, a woodcock won't work – no matter how well it is painted afterwards.

At 19.3 cm long and 260 g, it is also a solid figure. It doesn't need bright colors like the golden oriole or goldfinch to stand out. With the woodcock, the silhouette does that all on its own.