ON THE WANT LIST: JUST A SONG (AND A DANCE) AT TWILIGHT

American Woodcock - photo courtesy Robert Smith
(This bird was unusually co-operative on a soccer field in Biloxi at 9pm!)

This article was published in December 2005 

  One of my unfulfilled wishes as a birder is to watch an American Woodcock sky-dancing in the winter twilight of southern Mississippi.

   This most furtive member of the tribe we call shorebirds (the term itself is a misnomer), is most closely related to the Wilson's Snipe (a mud-lover). The woodcock may be better known to many locals by such colloquial names such as a timberdoodle, woodsnipe or bogsucker.

    It is most active and at its best at twilight. If you know this bird and are lucky enough to be privy to its song-and-dance routine, which runs locally in the winter months, please report it; there are many other similarly deprived birders, and you could be our hero(ine).

    The American Woodcock is actually a common bird, but it is crepuscular (in the context of animal behavior, that's a term describing low-light activities, such as at dusk). The woodcock blends with its leafy or earth-toned surroundings, hiding or sitting unmoving (sometimes in plain sight) during the daytime, so finding one is often a happy accident. It favors thickets along the banks of moving streams, rich bottomlands, scrubby hollows, damp second-growth woods --- anywhere the soil is moist and earthworms are plentiful.

    During migration, or when moving from places made inhospitable by inundating rains, it may be found in unexpected areas such as parks, yards, gardens, orchards, and lawns.

    The woodcock hardly qualifies as a handsome specimen; it is short, squat, and dumpy. But it is a fascinating natural example of form following function. Note the cryptic plumage (the better to blend with its background), the very long bill (an earthworm probe), and eyes set well back in its head (allowing it to keep watch for danger even when the bill is probing to its limit).

    We don't have an accurate picture of woodcock status in southern Mississippi; it is a game bird, and hunters probably know it better than birders. I've heard the significant "peeenting" call of this bird at twilight from various clear-cuts in Hancock County (Editor's note: this does not necessarily indicate breeding in that area, as it is not unknown for wintering birds to call and perform.)

   The "peeent" sound is similar to that of the Common Nighthawk (which isn't present here in winter) and it is given from the ground, before the song and dance goes into high gear.

    On dark nights, courtship performance begins soon after sunset, subsides with darkness, and may resume at dawn. In moonlight, it is often almost continuous throughout the night. One or several male woodcocks may strut their stuff simultaneously, but with some distance between them. The end-all is in attracting a female.

    After a "see me" and "peeenting" period, the male woodcock lifts off and flies at a rising angle, circling higher and higher in increasing spirals, until it attains a height of two or three hundred feet. During the upward flight, the dance is accompanied by a whistling sound made by certain modified wing feathers, and some musical chirps that are vocal in origin. The downward flight zigs and zags, and is punctuated with staccato chip notes; the dancing bird often lands squarely at its point of take-off.

    Even though I've seen nothing more than a 10-second sample of this dance during a cold and cloudy dusk in the Mississippi Delta, I still recognize the inadequacy of words. I really want to see the whole show. Now that would be worth a barrage of less-trivial adjectives, not to mention a bushel of bravos!

And so ends our Year With Judy Toups. It has been our pleasure, and privilege, to file all of them, and select a timely subject each week from over 1,300 articles. Most of the people on the coast who are holding binoculars and enjoying birds have Judy to thank for their passion. Her teaching skills were exemplary and because she wrote, and wrote well, her lessons are everlasting. She is quoted often and missed greatly. I don't know if Judy ever got her wish of seeing an American Woodcock sky-dance, but I hope she did.

 "Bushels of Bravos" go to the editors mentioned on the home page. Special thanks to Sharon Milligan for providing beautiful photos for almost every week and to Robert Smith, Brian Johnson and Ian Butler, who were able to fill in with some great rarities where necessary. We are grateful to Ned Boyajian who kindly read most of the articles and, where possible, made suggestions for updating material.

A Happy New Birding Year to all!