A group of about a dozen birders gathered on Refuge Road as the sun dipped below the horizon on Sunday, April 12, listening intently for the peenting call of the American Woodcock (Scolopax minor). Although the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge closes at sunset, the group leader, Sue McGrath of the Newburyport Birders had obtained a special permit for the afterhours program. This event was one of three trips that she organized this spring to allow a group of birders to witness the aerial courtship display of the American Woodcock.
American Woodcock Identification Practice
The group arrived at the Hellcat parking lot within the Parker River Wildlife Refuge for the 6:30 start of the program. Sue gave the group a detailed natural history lesson detailing the behavior and anatomy of the American Woodcock for about 45 minutes. The training included listening to the recorded calls of the American woodcock and practice spotting a mounted woodcock that was hidden several times in the grass and brush.
American Woodcock Family Life
The birding group learned that as far as the family life of the American woodcock goes, the male is responsible only for dancing to attract the female and then mating with her. He does not provide food for the female while nesting, nor for the chicks once they have hatched. The male is also not faithful. He will continue to attract other mates throughout the breeding season which runs from about mid-march to as late as July in the Plum Island area. As a part of the evening’s vocabulary lesson, the group learned that this latter behavior makes the male American Woodcock polygynous, having many females (as opposed to polygamous – having many wives).
American Woodcock Appearance
Sue also used a taxidermically preserved specimen to demonstrate that the American Woodcock’s eyes are actually set far back on its head to allow it to watch for predators while its bill plunges into the ground to search for earthworms and grubs. Once it finds a worm, the tip of the top portion of its bill opens to grab the worm. The end of the bird’s long bill is flexible so that the bird need not open the whole beak to catch the worms once it finds them. The adult woodcock measures about 11 inches long although its head is only about five or six inches above the ground when standing. It has very little tail, rather like an Araucana chicken. It's most distinctive feature is its very long, thin bill, which is slightly longer in the female.
Waiting for the Woodcock's Courtship Display
After the lesson, the group walked along the road to wait by a nearby field for the night-flying American Woodcock, also called a timberdoodle, to show up and begin its nightly show. The display generally takes place on open fields that are adjacent to the thick brush and scrub in which the female will build the nest. The first sign of the timberdoodle's presence was the nasal peenting call heard at around 7:45 p.m. as daylight waned. We could hear timberdoodles calling from several directions and elected to move down the road closer to one set of calls to try to see the elusive ground bird. Although the timberdoodle spends almost all of its time on the ground, even building its nest of leaves on the ground, its courtship dance takes place in the air over an open field.
The American Woodcock's Aerial Courtship Display
The peenting call of the American woodcock is very distinctive and easily localizable. Since its purpose is to attract the female of the species to the male, that’s probably a good thing. The peenting sound is made while the bird is on the ground between flights and some say it sounds more like a insect than a bird. Once the bird launches itself into the air, its song changes from one note peents to a long twittering song as it ascends several hundred feet into the air and makes a broad circle. As it completes the overhead circle, the song changes to a regular chirping pattern signifying that the male American Woodcock is descending in a zig-zag pattern back to the ground. It will land within a few feet of the position from which it launched itself. Where it will sit for a minute or two peenting.
Male Dancer Attracts the Ladies
During the evening, we saw several woodcocks, presumably females fly from the brush toward the area where a male was grounded, at which point, his dancing and calling stopped, because, although by this time it was too dark to find the birds on the ground, we presume he was otherwise occupied. A third female flew in to the same location perhaps four or five minutes after he had stopped his display. Either remembering his location from earlier, or using some other cue that was not obvious to the human observers.
Single Mom Manages the Brood
After mating, the female will lay about four eggs. The chicks will hatch and imprint upon the mother. Following her around in a single file line just like baby ducklings. The mother will feed the babies for a week or more until they learn to find worms and grubs on their own.
Hunting the American Woodcock
The American woodcock is a game bird and many states offer one or two hunting seasons for the timberdoodle each year. Like many other game birds, the woodcock will start and fly up into the air when flushed by a hunter or hunting dog. The small size of the woodcock makes it more of a sport hunting target than a meat provider, although the breast medallions can be taken after the same fashion as the meat of the American crow.
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Comments
Fascinating. What a neat experience. Not sure about the eating part ;)
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