Welcome back to the Entryway to Birding blog! March continues in its typical March fashion, with more spring migrants trickling in and the weather throwing us a few curveballs. (Hello, snow in the forecast!) But overall, spring is off to a beautiful start.
Last week the Dane County area saw our first reports of American woodcocks, also lovingly called timberdoodles! (Why? It’s a mystery to me—but it sure seems to fit their quirky style!) American woodcocks are actually shorebirds that belong in the sandpiper family—you can see their resemblance to the Wilson's snipe, a closely related bird that you're likely to find in flooded fields, muddy shores, or marsh edges. But if you go looking for American woodcocks in the same spot you'd expect to find other shorebirds, you'll be disappointed.
American woodcocks nest in forests and wooded areas, but will perform their aerial flight display in open fields and prairies that are near woodlands. This week's Entryway to Birding blog will give you some suggested locations to go looking for American woodcocks and tips to make the most of your timberdoodle adventures—so you can experience the wonder of their sky dance in full.
The American woodcock might look a little ... strange ... at first. Their eye placement may seem off to us, but it actually puts the woodcock at an advantage! Its eyes are placed far back on its head, behind its ears, so that it can see potential predators while it is busy probing its long bill into the mud. Woodcocks love to probe for earthworms—their favorite food—and this way they can remain on the lookout while getting a tasty meal. Yum! Photo by Will Pollard
A Sky Dance to Remember
You're likely going to hear an American woodcock before you find one. Listen carefully for a nasal-y "peent!" given repeatedly, with about a two second pause in between calls. This peenting will be repeated until, suddenly, the woodcock will burst into the air and begin its aerial display. If you've read A Sand County Almanac, you may remember Aldo Leopold's chapter "Sky Dance," which describes the evening rituals of the woodcock more eloquently than I can:
"Suddenly the peenting ceases and the bird flutters skyward in a series of wide spirals, emitting a musical twitter. Up and up he goes, the spirals steeper and smaller, the twittering louder and louder, until the performer is only a speck in the sky. Then, without warning, he tumbles like a crippled plane, giving voice in a soft liquid warble that a March bluebird might envy. At a few feet from the ground he levels off and returns to his peenting ground, usually to the exact spot where the performance began, and there resumes his peenting."
The musical chorus of the woodcock's performance is really fascinating—the buzzy, nasal peents; the fast twittering sounds that are made by the woodcock's wings; and the strange chirping noise made at the pinnacle of its upward journey. To me, that noise always sounds like a kissing noise, as if the woodcock is kissing the sky before it tumbles to the land below.
If you're out on a clear night, you'll be able to witness this aerial display—it may take a few rounds before you can spot the woodcock, since it often appears tiny in the sky due to how high it spirals up—but once you lock on one, you can try and follow it in the air and spot where it lands. This may involve some neck-craning, because they fly way up there—like 200 to 300 feet up in the air!
I couldn't find a photo of an American woodcock in flight—they are hard to capture! But doesn't this image just evoke "giant, chubby hummingbird"?! Their flapping will never be as fast as hummingbird—it looks more frantic, almost bat-like—but that mental image gives me a good laugh. You’ll see what I mean when you catch a glimpse of one taking to the sky! Photo by Jeff B.
You can enjoy the aerial performance and vocalizations of the American woodcock with or without binoculars. Because they begin late in the evening, the dim light makes your binoculars not as useful, but if you do get a glimpse of them in flight, you'll likely chuckle. If you thought they looked awkward on the ground, they look even moreso in the air. When I viewed my first woodcocks of the spring with some fellow birders, we decided they looked very much like giant, chubby hummingbirds!
Tips for Your Timberdoodle Adventure
Here are some tips to help you if you're venturing out in search of woodcocks for the first time. This is the perfect activity for your family on a late spring evening and a really grand way to get some of your non-birdy friends intrigued in the bird world. I haven't met anyone who hasn't enjoyed this spring experience!
Tip #1 — Time It Right
Woodcocks will only start performing at dusk. We just "sprung ahead" with Daylight Savings, so keep that in mind if you're looking at past eBird reports for timings. When I went looking for them this weekend, I heard the first peents begin at 6:15, but looking at the comments on others eBird reports across the county, some started closer to 6:30 — bump those times up to the 7 o'clock hour to get yourself in the ballpark.
Don't focus so much on the exact time, either, but rather the amount of light. The sun will have set and it will feel like it is nearing dark. I remember going on a naturalist-led woodcock walk a few years ago and someone shared that woodcocks will start to peent when the first two stars appear in the sky. I've found this to be quite accurate!
Time of day is key. You can find woodcocks at both dawn and dusk. Be prepared to get there while its still dark if you're going in the morning so you can catch them in the early morning light. If you go in the evening, you'll be able to see them in flight around dusk, but continue to hear them even in the dark! This scene was taken at Cherokee North, another great destination for woodcocks. Photo by Caitlyn Schuchhardt
Tip #2 — Wait on the Edge
If you arrive near dusk, find a spot near the edge of the prairie or field where you're viewing and wait patiently. Woodcocks will seek out flat, open areas to perform their peenting and strutting—and if you're lucky, they'll choose to do it right on the path! This is why it can be nice to hold off on walking the trails as you wait, so you can optimize the chance of a woodcock choosing to perform its strut on the undisturbed path. Practice your slow birding and wait patiently, taking in the spring sunset.
Another reason to wait on the outskirts is to get a nice, clear view of both the open field and the sky above. Your first signs of the woodcock may be hearing it peent in the distance, but once you hear its twittering flight calls (made by its wings), you'll want to scan the open sky to see if you can find it.
Tip #3 — Follow that Woodcock!
Once you do spot one in flight, keep your eyes on the bird! Be prepared to crane your neck and potentially lose sight of it as it gets high—it will really be a small speck. But watch carefully and try and observe where the woodcock lands. They almost always return to the same area they flew up from, so if you can spot where it landed, you can then adjust your positioning to get closer.
Do you see that dark, blurry dot in the distance on the path? Yep, that's an American woodcock. Photographing anything at dusk is NOT my strong suit, but I just had to try. This was my first time actually seeing on on the path and not just in flight so I had to capture the moment, blurry or not! Photo by Caitlyn Schuchhardt
Once you've identified where a woodcock (or several woodcocks!) are performing, slowly move closer to where they are landing. You may get lucky and discover one peenting right on the path, or be able to hear one peent very, very close to you in the brush.
Don't get too close so as to disturb them, but just put yourself in the vicinity where it is peenting. Even in the dim light, you may be able to make out its chubby body and long bill when it bursts up in flight, frantically flapping its wings to gain altitude in its upward spiral.
Tip #4— Choose a Clear Night
The ideal evening to look for woodcocks is calm and cloudless—you'll want to be able to take advantage of the setting sun's light—or the early moonlight—to see them as they fly. A cloudy evening makes it harder to spot them in the air. A clear night will also help you spot those earliest stars in the sky, which is the right time to really perk up your ears and listen for those distant peents and twittery flight noises, which will help you triangulate where the best location to stand will be.
There's a lot of joy (and giggling!) that usually comes with a woodcock sighting. They are a fascinating and comical bird, and those peenting noises never, ever get old and never fail to make me laugh. Use the above tips as you head out in search of your first American woodcocks of the season.
Wondering where exactly to go? Read on!
This was the scene from my recent visit to Lake Kegonsa State Park. The day had been cloudy, but thankfully those clouds cleared and left a nice, clear sky that made it easy to spot the high-flying woodcocks that were performing. Photo by Caitlyn Schuchhardt
Where (and When) to Find American Woodcocks Near You
American woodcocks usually arrive back in Wisconsin in mid-March. From mid-March through April is prime time to witness their mating display, which they give in the early morning hours just before dawn and in the evening at dusk, though they'll often be performing into May.
There are many, many places that you're likely to find American woodcocks displaying in south-central Wisconsin. Of course, I can't help but mention how useful eBird's Explore Species feature is when it comes to seeing where American woodcocks are being reported. You can save yourself some searching if you go to a destination where they're already known to be.
That said, it's equally fun to go somewhere new to see if you can discover another place where they're hiding! Part of the joy of birding is finding new places and new landscapes to explore as you look for fun birds.
Here is an eBird map of all the locations birders have reported American woodcock sightings in Dane County over the past three years. The red dots are the sightings from this spring. Woodcocks just arrived with migration and there are already several reliable places to find them—that number will grow over the next few weeks! We have a lot of great habitat for woodcocks around here, so go exploring and see if you can add a new pin to the map! Screenshot from eBird.org
As for some recommended destinations, oh boy! There are so many. Since I bird heavily in Madison, this list is very Madison-centric. If you're not from Madison, think about habitat where you have open brushy fields or prairie that is bordered by woodland.
Here's a list to get you started!
Faville Grove Sanctuary — Head out to this Madison Audubon sanctuary (in Jefferson County) where we have lots of open prairie for woodcocks to perform. Much of this open prairie is mixed with oak savanna or bordered by woods, giving you that nice mix of woodland edges and open field that woodcocks love so much. Last spring, land steward Drew Harry gave us a great virtual woodcock-watching experience with lots of tips for a visit to Faville Grove in this Facebook Live video.
UW-Madison Arboretum — One the most popular woodcock-viewing areas in Madison is at the Arboretum, and you don't have to hike far at all to hear their lovely peents. Park at the Visitor Center and wait near Curtis Prairie (the large open prairie south of the Visitor Center lot that is bordered by woods). There are several trails through the prairie you can use to get closer to those peenting noises!
Cherokee Marsh—I usually go to the North unit for my woodcock adventures. I haven't been yet this season, but last year I had upwards of five woodcocks performing along different stretches of the prairie. Park at the main lot (near the restrooms) and head east towards the open prairie near the marsh. (You can likely find them west of the lot, too, in that stretch of open area near the Yahara River, but I haven't checked there before so I can't confidently say that. Maybe you should investigate!)
Lake Kegonsa State Park— This is where I went for my first woodcocks of the season this year, and there were two—one in each prairie on either side of the road, just past the Visitor Center. We waited where the trail begins at the road until we heard peenting, then started venturing closer—our strategy paid off and and we were lucky to see one strutting right on the path, who kept returning to that same spot while we stood still and watched.
Other popular spots include:
Governor Nelson State Park
Lake Farm County Park
Pheasant Branch Conservancy
I haven't personally looked for woodcocks at these last few locations, but past eBird reports show a lot of activity in the spring. I'm looking forward to exploring them soon—maybe I'll see you there!
All of the locations I've mentioned have the same mix of habitat in common—open fields or prairie that isn't far from a wooded area. Use that as your guide when you think about your destination, and then see how many new places you can find woodcocks performing this spring!
Happy birding, everyone! Now go listen for that comical peenting and smile at the wonder of spring migration.
P.S. If just can't get enough of woodcocks, you should know there are many, many videos of them on YouTube as they perform their characteristic, bobbing walk. Scientists think they picked up this unique walking style, which involves stepping very heavily with their front foot and shifting their weight, because it may help stir up earthworms in the soft mud below. But they walk like this wherever they're heading—even their little ones too! As if they weren't cute enough!
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Caitlyn is a volunteer with Madison Audubon. She’s crazy for birds because they changed her life! She’ll be back next Monday with some tips and tools for birders, new and experienced! Between now and then, she’d love to hear from you. What birds are you seeing or hearing? How is birding changing your world? What birding content would you like to see next? Leave a comment below!
