Woodcock use of clearcut aspen areas in Wisconsin

Clearcut areas in northern Wisconsin aspen (Populus spp., mostly P. tremuloides) forests were highly attractive to woodcock (Philohela minor) for feeding and night-roosting, and made excellent sites for woodcock trapping and banding. Woodcock use of clearcuts was extended for several years by annually removing vegetation from trails with a bulldozer. A continued high demand for aspen pulpwood may be important in maintaining woodcock nurnbers in the Great Lakes states.