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It’s Timber Doodle Time

Photo by Tom Hodgson. A female woodcock sitting on her nest.
Photo by Tom Hodgson. A female woodcock sitting on her nest.

(Chelsea Update would like to thank Tom Hodgson and the Waterloo Area Historical Society for the information and photos in this column.)

For the past several weeks one of Michigan’s most interesting and unusual birds has been slipping into our area under the cover of darkness.

The American woodcock also known as the “timber doodle” is now setting up breeding territories in brushy fields throughout the area. No one seems to know why the nickname timber doodle has stuck. Perhaps it’s because of the strange dance it does while searching for earthworms. Or maybe the series of probing holes it leaves behind while searching for food resembles doodling.

Woodcock spend their days in nearby woodlands, resting and using their cryptic coloration to avoid detection. In early morning and evening they actively feed, probing the ground for earthworms with their long, flexible beaks. At dusk they move into fields where the males set up dancing territories along trails or patches of bare ground. Shortly after dusk the males begin their “peenting” calls. After each call the male rotates about ninety degrees so that the sound is projected in all directions.

When he can contain himself no longer he launches into an elaborate courtship flight, spiraling upward, his outer flight feathers generating a twittering sound. At a height of 200-300 feet, the twittering becomes intermittent, and the bird descends, zigzaging down, chirping as he goes. He lands silently close the spot where he launched. If he has attracted a female, he will pursue her on the ground and mate. If not, he resumes the peenting call once again.

Courtship flights continue for about an hour or so after dusk, may resume about an hour before sunrise, or may be continuous on moonlit nights. To hear the woodcock’s peenting call, click here.

(Publisher’s note: They are still around here because I heard a male on Tuesday night and again on Wednesday morning on my property in Sylvan Township. Until I listened to the call, I had no idea what I was hearing.)

Once mating is complete, the male continues to pursue other females and plays no part in nesting or the rearing of young. That is the sole responsibility of the female. She scrapes a shallow nest on the ground among fallen twigs and leaves. While sitting on the nest she is nearly invisible to potential predators.

The young are fully feathered and ready to travel as soon as they hatch.

The woodcock also performs what some call a dance. This may actually be a method of finding food. This hesitating “dance” may create a rhythm of vibrations in the ground under its feet that causes earthworms, its favorite food, to move and be more easily located.

To watch this “dance,” click here.

Woodcock will continue their courtship activities from now until June. This week they are beginning their peenting calls about 8:30 p.m.  As the days lengthen, the calling will begin later and later.

The Waterloo Recreation Area used to have much prime habitat for woodcock.  But over the years the park’s young woods and brushy fields that woodcock prefer have grown into mature forests and the numbers of these interesting birds nesting in the park has declined.

Photo by Tom Hodgson. A resting woodcock breaks up its shape by Laying its long bill over its back and puffing up the feathers on its rump.
Photo by Tom Hodgson. A resting woodcock breaks up its shape by Laying its long bill over its back and puffing up the feathers on its rump.
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