Timberdoodle

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Meet Scolopax minor – The American Woodcock – colloquially known as the timberdoodle.   

Superbly camouflaged this chunky bird - unlike its shore-dwelling relatives - spends much of its life on the forest floor probing with its long bill for insects and earthworms.   A woodcock’s eyes are positioned high and near the back of their skull. This arrangement lets them keep watch for danger in the sky while they have their heads down poking around in the soil for food.  This diminutive bird makes it hard to find except at dawn or dusk or when the dogs flush one.  Or when you flush one while walking to or from a deer stand in the dark.   The sudden explosive flush will almost cause you to have a heart attack.   

They’re migrating now and winging their way south to the gulf coast.  One of the sure harbingers of spring is the male woodcock’s evening display flight.  From his singing ground he gives buzzy peent calls and flies upward in a wide spiral following by a twittering and chirping descent.  Aldo Leopold called this courtship ritual the 'sky dance' in his book - A Sand County Almanac.