The following species of woodcocks are extant today:
Eurasian Woodcock, Scolopax rusticola (large Eurasian range) Amami Woodcock, Scolopax mira (endemic to islands in Japan) Bukidnon Woodcock, Scolopax bukidnonensis (endemic to islands in the Philippines) Dusky Woodcock, Scolopax saturata (endemic to islands in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea) New Guinea Woodcock, Scolopax (saturata) rosenbergii Sulawesi Woodcock, Scolopax celebensis (endemic to an island in Indonesia) Moluccan Woodcock, Scolopax rochussenii (endemic to islands in Indonesia) American Woodcock, Scolopax minor (large North American range)
A number of woodcocks are extinct and are known only from fossil or subfossil bones. Due to their close relationship to the Gallinago snipes, the woodcocks are a fairly young group of birds, even considering that the Charadriiformes themselves are an ancient lineage. Gallinago and Scolopax diverged probably around the Late Miocene some 10-5 million years ago.