Got Nature? Blog

American Woodcock. Photo credit: Ricky Layson, Ricky Layson Photography, Bugwood.org.

You know Spring is around the corner when the days get longer and the temperatures rise. While the weather has pleasantly been warm this year so far, perhaps my favorite harbinger of Spring is the annual arrival of the American Woodcock, also known as the Timberdoodle. Their unique “peents” and the spectacular aerial flights of males looking to attract mates can be very entertaining.

Woodcock are migratory and spend their winters in the southern U.S. They arrive in Indiana in the early spring. This year, they arrived in late-February in the southern part of the state. The Ruffed Grouse Society has a web page with maps of female woodcock and their migration routes for this spring and previous years.

Male woodcock typically set up their singing grounds in open fields and forest openings and recently logged areas. However, they can often be seen in urban areas including parks and even residential communities. Just a couple weeks ago I arrived home just in time to see a male doing his courtship display a block up the road. The best time to observe them is at dusk. They will spend time on the ground “peenting” for a while, then fly high into the air to perform their “dance” only to return to the ground to repeat the process. This will go on until it gets dark. You can sometimes hear them peent in the morning before sunrise. Kyle Daly, a wildlife biologist who has studied them in Minnesota, wrote an excellent article on their spring dance.

Resources
American Woodcock: Habitat Best Management Practices for the Northeast, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) & Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS)
American Woodcock Indiana DNR Fact Sheet, Indiana Department of Natural Resources-Fish & Wildlife
Learn how forests are used by birds new videos, Got Nature? Blog
Winter is a Good Time to Bird?, Got Nature? Blog
Managing Woodlands for Birds, The Education Store-Purdue Extension resource center
Managing Woodlands for Birds Video, Purdue Extension-Forestry and Natural Resources (FNR) YouTube Channel
Climate Change + Birds, Purdue Institute for Sustainable Future
Birds and Residential Window Strikes: Tips for Prevention, The Education Store, Purdue Extension resource center
Breeding Birds and Forest Management: The Hardwood Ecosystem Experiment and the Central Hardwoods Region, The Education Store
No Room at the Inn: Suburban Backyards and Migratory Birds, The Education Store
The Birders’ Dozen, Profile: Baltimore Oriole, Indiana Woodland Steward
Ask An Expert, Playlist, Purdue Extension – FNR YouTube Channel
It’s For the Birds, Indiana Yard and Garden-Purdue Consumer Horticulture
National Audubon Society
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Subscribe, Purdue Extension – FNR YouTube Channel

Brian MacGowan, Extension Wildlife Specialist
Purdue University, Department of Forestry and Natural Resources