In this month's column, our guest is Janet Malotky, a bird watcher extraordinaire who was part of my 2022 Master Naturalist volunteer cohort. She is also a member of the Frontenac State Park Association. As an avid birder, she enjoys nothing more than getting outside, binoculars in hand, to revel in the amazing natural world around us. In this article, Janet looks at the antics and foibles of the woodcock in April. This article first appeared in the April 2025 edition of the Frontenac State Park Association newsletter,
Every April, a wacky bird glides into the forest edges of Frontenac State Park to once again bid for a mate and the continuation of the species –- long may they live! I’m talking about the American Woodcock, also known as the Timberdoodle, among other nicknames. They arrive from their wintering grounds in the southeastern United States and hit the ground … strutting? If you want to be delighted, click on this
link to see the Woodcock taking a stroll.
The reason for this fancy walking style is not understood, though some wonder whether the rhythm drives their underground prey (worms, larvae, insects) to reveal themselves somehow. It doesn’t seem to be related to courtship rituals, as Woodcocks have acrobatic aerial displays for that purpose. But hey, it’s springtime, and maybe they’re just feeling jaunty.
Woodcocks are chubby grackle-sized birds with ridiculously long bills. They spend most of their time on the ground in areas of moist forest duff. We met their mudflat-dwelling cousins, the Wilson’s Snipes, in the
October 2023 Bird Note. Like Snipes, Woodcocks probe deep into the soil with their sensitive, pliable bills to locate prey, which they slurp up while the bill is still underground. Their eyes are weirdly located high and toward the back of their head, giving them a wide field of vision, even when their bills are stuck deep into the soil. The female nests in a shallow depression on the forest floor, where she is exquisitely camouflaged.
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American Woodcock on her nest near
Frontenac State Park’s Prairie Trail.
Image - Janet Malotky |
Because of their excellent camouflage, Woodcocks are rarely seen in the wild. Your best chance to see one is during their aerial courtship displays. Almost every evening just after sunset, Woodcocks make their way from forest edge to open field/meadow/prairie. There the male begins to
“peent.” He peents several times to let everyone know he’s there, and then he leaps into the air to begin his spiraling ascent high above the prairie floor. As he rises, the air rushing through his feathers makes a
twittering sound (first part of recording). At the apex of his rise, he pauses, probably hoping a female is watching, before plummeting toward the ground in a freefall while
chirping rapidly (last part of recording).
Is he chirping in terror? Just shy of impact, though, he resumes control and lands gently, often exactly where he took off, only to resume peenting. He then repeats the whole sequence again and again, continuing through the evening and sometimes through the night. Once courtship has been successful, the female makes a nest, lays and incubates the eggs, and feeds the young on her own. The male has put all his energy into flirtation.
I mentioned that we can experience this display in the park, and we can. However, as also mentioned, it happens after sunset. Our eyes are not our strongest asset in this setting. On a bright night, I have glimpsed only the silhouette of a Woodcock at different points during the display. But fortunately the entire sequence can be heard.
It’s pretty neat to go out on the prairie as twilight turns to dark and rely on just your hearing. A little spooky if the coyotes are also yipping. But remember, coyotes don’t eat people! They would love to eat a noisy Woodcock, though. Fortunately, Woodcocks can fly.
