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At sunset, the male American Woodcock - a plump, robin-sized bird - walks slowly on short legs from the cover of the forest to a nearby clearing. After a few sharp calls, the woodcock takes flight. As it spirals upward, slim, stiff feathers at its wingtips create a curious twittering. At the apex of its flight, the woodcock circles, then descends in a slow spiral, putt-putting like a tiny car about to run out of gas. The woodcock's odd looks and sounds have earned it many colorful nicknames. The most memorable? Timberdoodle!
BirdNote®
American Woodcock -
Doodling with Woodcocks
Written by Bob Sundstrom
This is BirdNote!
[Display sounds of an American Woodcock]
As the sun sets on a northern Midwest forest, we hear a most peculiar sound. [Repeat flight twittering/chirps of American Woodcock]
It’s an American Woodcock, aloft on a courtship flight. At sunset, the male woodcock walks slowly on short legs from the cover of the forest to a nearby clearing. After a few sharp calls [“Peent” calls], the woodcock takes flight. As it spirals upward, slim, stiff feathers at its wingtips create a curious twittering. [A bit of the twittering] At the apex of its flight, the woodcock circles, then descends in a slow spiral, putt-putting like a tiny car about to run out of gas.
As it lands, we can see in the last light its beautifully patterned gray back and orange belly. The male will display at dawn and dusk for more than two months each spring.
The woodcock’s odd looks and sounds have earned it many colorful nicknames. The most memorable? Timberdoodle. Let’s listen to the timberdoodle one more time.
Support for BirdNote comes from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, offering its newest online course, “The Joy of Birdwatching.” Learn more at academy.allaboutbirds.org.
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Call of the American Woodcock provided by The Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Recorded by G.F. Budney.
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Chris Peterson
© 2015 Tune In to Nature.org April 2015/2020 / March 2023
Narrator: Mary McCann
ID# AMWO-02b-2020-4-14
Bob Sundstrom
Writer
Mary McCann
NarratorSights & Sounds
