For me it is an eternal wonder as it is for most birders to discover springtime skydance with the American Woodcock (Scolopax minor). The dancers are male woodcocks. The females observe in silence from nearby bushes. The song and dance performance will long be remembered as extraordinary by all who participate in this springtime ritual of courtship observation.

Visit a clearing near a thicket, preferably only a tad moist. Look and pay attention from a hidden and low viewing point. I often would arrive at my personal favorite observation post approximately a around 30 minutes before the drama was scheduled to commence. While I sit still on my camping stool, as we wait for chunky little brown birds to show themselves I hold my night binoculars in my hands, ready for the show.

How did I know when the dance would begin? Without the aid of analog or digital watches, these sturdy little birds would begin at just about the same time each evening when the light and temperature were just right, about 22 minutes past sunset. I never observed them perform this ritual in the rain or on really cloudy evenings.

Once the family was introduced to this event by reading Aldo Leopold’s 1949 classic A Sand County Almanac, it became impossible to skip this annual ritual. Leopold considered this the beginning of spring in the northern woods and called it the “skydance”.

It’s hard to believe these stubby little gamebirds are in the same family as the sandpipers we have seen skittering over the sands at the beach. They have very short legs, an unusually long bill which has a specialized tip that’s made for catching earthworms in the soil. Their mottled brown color looks a great deal like fallen leaves on the forest floor.

Occasionally there would be more than one male nearby. Those were exciting times. Each male bird kept its own timing which means you actually could see one going up whilst you were listening to another make its “peent” sound on the ground. They’d turn and “peent” again in another direction, repeatedly, presumably to draw the interest of females from all around. The “peent” is a sound like that from a nighthawk only a bit deeper buzz.

The stout little gamebird bursts straight up to the sky silently. It is true that with good hearing or an amplifier it is possible to hear his wings twittering with a tonal sound while he gains altitude and does spiral loops until he’s about 300 feet high before he dives back with twittering sounds when he starts his return.The twittering sound is air passing between wing feathers. His zig-zag dive to the same place on the ground is silent aside from the soundof his hushed wings flapping to a halt. I have no clue how he finds the exact same location everytime he goes up and comes down. But seconds once he lands and settles, he resumes his directional peenting pattern again.

Even on a common night you may well see about 6 sky dance dives per male American Woodcock. They would resume some time before dawn the subsequent morning. This complex courtship ritual continues nightly for months, in some areas for around four months. It is apparently the activity the males do while the females hatch the brood and grow into fledgling size and leave the nest. When I first began my annual skydance observations, I thought it was all a courtship ritual to attract a mate. Today I’d say I don’t know if in addition, it has some other function that goes beyond the original courtship. Most likely you would have to ask the feisty little woodcock in the field.

Discover how to build your LifeList and enjoy life doing it! Take this free birding eCourse. Visit the Uber Article Directory to get a totally unique version of this article for reprint.