I saw a male American Woodcock doing his mating ritual from my front yard!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

This is truly something only other bird freaks will appreciate. It was two weeks ago today, Friday March 21st. It was unseasonably warm in eastern Massachussetts, so the windows in my house were open just after sunset. No one else was home as I packed for our ski vacation to Smuggler’s Notch, VT.

In the back of my mind I realized I was hearing a strange noise…a nasal "peent’ sound that repeated every five seconds or so. Hmmm, where have I heard that sound before? My bird call tapes?

I ran outside. Hell, it had stopped. I must have imagined it, maybe it was an aberrant spring peeper (frog), or something.

Then, from high above, I heard a fluttering, twittering sound…the male American Woodcock! In the evenings in the early spring, he does his mating flight over a field near damp woods. He starts with the "peent’ing sound, then flies high up in the air. The wind rushing over his wings makes a whistling sound as he flutters around, then plunges back to earth.

I had never heard this sucker before, and now I can add it to my life list. I can also add it to the much shorter list of birds I have seen or heard from my 1/4 acre in a small town in suburban Boston…I am now up to 38 species, and this is one I never thought I would get. The habitat must be very marginal for woodcocks. There is a swamp behind the houses across the street, but no real open fields nearby, just lawns, some woods and some brushy areas.

Anyway, it was very exciting for me. Local bird clubs run special trips just so people can see this springtime display, and I just had to step outside. I even got a glimpse of the little guy as he circled high above me (the lighting was poor, but I saw his silhouette).

Here is some more info about this bird:
American Woodcock

2

I guess birders get excited about plain colored birds, but give me an oriole or redwinged blackbird any day. The ones in my Birds of the World coloring book.

3

Tell him to put some pants on, or you’ll call the cops.

Damn birds! Always running around with no pants on!

http://home.rochester.rr.com/satw/se_usa/donald.htm

And torturing slinkys in their spare time!

Damn Pervert birds!

4

Skarlett, I like colorful birds too, heck I even started a thread recently about trying to attract more orioles to my yard. But I’ve seen orioles and red-winged blackbirds before. I get excited when I see a bird in my area I’ve NEVER seen before, regardless of its color. If it is a bird with declining numbers, and an unusual behavior, which it only does for a few weeks each year, and then only in particular habitats, and if it is one I identified by voice, and which I didn’t have to leave my property to see, well, it is that much more exciting.

Bosda: :stuck_out_tongue:

5

Heh heh, woodcock, heh heh…

6

We have a pair of cardinals that live in our back yard. The male continually flies into one of the back doors. BONK! pause BONK! pause BONK!

They tried making the door less reflective. Apparently ANY reflective is enough to set this bird off. Stupid bird. :rolleyes:

7

Well, I think it’s very cool, and I’m not even an avid birder! :slight_smile: Of course, part of it is that I’m also a Boston suburbanite, and I would never expect a woodcock to be seen anywhere near the city.

8

Davebear, I am in what would probably be called the far suburbs. Inside 495, but outside 128, in a northwesterly direction. Probably some 25 or so miles from the Statehouse dome as the woodcock flies. My town is fairly built up, though. There isn’t a whole lot of open space. Most of the houses are on 1/4 to 1/2 acre lots.

There is an interesting site called the Wildlife Trails Education Project that has pictures of animals that were taken by motion-sensitive cameras at wildlife refuges in this area. Bobcats, foxes, coyotes, turkeys; its pretty amazing what lives nearby.

9

My sister used to live in New York City. One day on her way home from work she noticed a group of people standing around something on the sidewalk. She went to investigate and found out it was a woodcock that had crashed into a building while migrating (unfortunatlely this often happens to migrating birds; I’ve found a few that were injured in this manner.) She got Wildlife Rescue to come pick it up, but I don’t know whether it survived or not.

As far as colorful birds go, I saw a tanager in my yard five years ago. They are beautiful yellow birds with red faces and black wings. I’ve since grown many different plants that are supposed to attract birds (serviceberries, currants, and coneflowers being some of the plants) but I’ve never seen another tanager here. I’ve also seen orioles in town, just not in my yard (sob).

10

Okay, who else thought this was going to be a satirical post about watching some guy try to pick up women?

11

While the woodcock is a fascinating bird, I assume that it would be bad form to offer a recipe for woodcock with wild rice, so I will refrain.

[sub]just a note from a woodcock hunter[/sub]