none

This Morning Outside

by Diane Porter

April 8, 2010
At Birdwatching Dot Com
Fairfield, Iowa

In the misty dawn, a woodcock is begging for love over in the east field. He makes a fuzzy Peent! call, repeats it again and again.

It's too dark to pick him out with your binoculars, but you listen to him for a couple of minutes. Then the sound ceases. He has flown up from the grass. Listen carefully, and you'll hear a faint, fluty whip-whip-whip sound. This is the air whipping through his feathers as he flies. It's part of his seduction display.

The female woodcocks apparently are overwhelmed with admiration and grant him their favors. Ah, love on planet earth.

This bird is illuminated by a humongous flashlight, which is why there is such a strong shadow (Michael taking photo while Diane holds flashlight). You look at this bird when it's not light enough to look at a bird!

You can see in the photo that the tip of the bill is parted, while the base is closed. Woodcocks can wiggle the end of the upper mandible, and it's believed that this ability helps the birds catch earthworms by letting them feel for the worms under the surface of the soil.

When woodcocks are feeding, they put the bill a little ways into the ground and pause for a moment, as if they're feeling for something. Then they suddenly plunge it deeper and in and out rather fast. It's believed this is when they're going after the worm they've located.