.%20The%20dancers%20are%20male%20woodcocks.%20The%20females%20observe%20in%20silence%20from%20nearby%20bushes.%20The%20song%20and%20dance%20performance%20will%20long%20be%20remembered%20as%20stunning%20by%20all%20who%20participate%20in%20this%20springtime%20ritual%20of%20courtship%20observation.Visit%20a%20clearing%20near%20a%20thicket,%20preferably%20only%20a%20tad%20moist....){kind=link}
Share A Springtime Evening With Woodcocks
An unending for most bird watchers is discovering the springtime skydance with the American Woodcock (Scolopax minor)
. The dancers are male woodcocks. The females observe in silence from nearby bushes. The song and dance performance will long be remembered as stunning by all who participate in this springtime ritual of courtship observation.Visit a clearing near a thicket, preferably only a tad moist. Look and tune in from a hidden and low vantage point. Often I would get to the best observation post approximately a around 30 minutes before the drama was scheduled to begin. While I sit still on my camping stool, with night binoculars in hand, my companions and I would wait for the chunky little brown birds to appear .
How did I know when the dance would begin? Without the aid of analog or digital watches, these sturdy little birds would begin at just about the same time each evening when the light and temperature were just right, about 22 minutes past sunset. I never saw them perform this ritual while it was raining or on really cloudy evenings.
When the family learned of this event through reading Aldo Leopold's 1949 classic A Sand County Almanac, it became impossible to skip this annual milestone. Leopold considered this the start of spring in the northern woods and named it the "skydance".
It's hard to believe these stubby little gamebirds belong to the same family as the sandpipers we have seen skittering over the sands along the shoreline. They have very short legs, an unusually long bill which has a specialized tip that is devised for catching earthworms in the soil. Their mottled brown color looks a whole lot like fallen leaves on the forest floor.
At times there would be more than one male in the vicinity. Those were exciting times. Each male bird kept its own timing which means you actually could see one ascending while you were hearing another make its "peent" sound on the ground. They would turn and "peent" again in another direction, again and again, presumably to draw the attention of females from all sides. The "peent" sounds like that from a nighthawk except its a bit deeper buzz.
The stout little gamebird bursts straight up to the sky silently. Truthfully that with good hearing or an amplifier you can hear his wings twittering with a tonal sound while he climbs and does spiral loops until he is about 300 feet high before he dives back with twittering sounds when he starts his return.The twittering sound originates from air passing between wing feathers. His zig-zag dive to the same place on the ground is silent apart from the flutterof his quiet wings flapping to a halt. The way he finds his correct location is a mystery if you ask me. Seconds after he lands and settles, he resumes his directional peenting pattern again.
Even on a typical night you may well see about 6 sky dance dives per male American Woodcock. They will resume a short while before dawn the next morning. This detailed courtship ritual persists every night for months, in some areas approximately four months. It looks like it's the activity the males do while the females hatch the brood and grow into fledgling size and leave the nest. When I first began my annual skydance observations, I thought it was all a courtship ritual to attract a mate. Today I'd say I don't know if in addition, it has another function that goes beyond the original courtship. I guess you would need to ask a woodcock!
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