The American Woodcock

(Script by Francie Von Mertens)

Spring has many harbingers, perhaps because the winter weary keep an eager watch for promising signs. One harbinger is March's full moon, known as the Worm Moon. During March the ground is beginning to thaw, and with that thaw, earth worms rise to the occasion. So, it's no coincidence that migrating robins return in March, visible on wet fields and lawns.

Another harbinger I have in mind is easier to hear than see. He becomes active in the half-light of dawn and dusk on the same wet fields that host robins by day. Cup your ears towards such a field and you just might hear the persistent, insistent courtship notes of the male American woodcock.

These distinctive notes precede lift-off and a circling flight that looks more like bat than bird. Descent follows a pendulum-swing pattern, accompanied by sweet, musical chirps. After a brief silence, the series begins again: distinctive notes followed by lift-off. This unique courtship display can last 45 minutes.

From March into June, dawn and dusk, the male announces his availability to any and all females.
Monogamy is not for the woodcock male.

Woodcocks feed by probing mucky fields with a long bill that's well engineered to find their favorite food, earthworms,. The bill has sensitive nerve endings that detect a worm, and a flexible lower portion that hinges open to grab it.

During hunting season, woodcocks are a prized game bird. But how many hunters sitting down to a game-bird dinner know that woodcock’s staple diet is earthworms?

The woodcocks nickname, “bogsucker,” is well deserved!