Charles and Bob can’t wait to get out in the field in early spring to check out the woodcock sky dance. This is one crazy bird. It is a shorebird that lives in the forest and is nicknamed the timberdoodle.
The woodcock sound clip is thanks to Karen Hogan and the image below to Vicky McErlean both via the Macaulay Library at Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Thanks to Christina Zorn for providing background research.
Our sources for this episode include:
- The Woodcock Management Plan
- Funky American Woodcock YouTube video
- A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold
- Nature blog Gulo in Nature by Charles Van Rees
I’ve been listening to an Isle Royale wolves lecture series but had to take a break to listen to you all share about this awesome little critter! I had never seen one of these birds (I did not know they were even in my area of Michigan) until last year when I popped over a hill in my jeep and had to stop quickly. There was this really weird bird I had never seen before crossing the road! And she took forever with her wobbling walk. It gave me a lot of anxiety that another car would come along as she danced across the road along with her 3 little fluff balls that were even slower!! so darn cute though and it gave me an opportunity to stare. I forgot to even try for a photo until they were in the grass on the side of the road and then they blended in so well I could not hardly see them. Thanks for sharing about this fascinating bird!
Thanks for sharing this! I am hoping to see them on the ground this year!