American Woodcock, Scolopax minor
“Peent! peent!” There is nothing quite like the sound of the American Woodcock as it returns to fields and wet meadows in springtime. To attract a mate, this goofy bird puts on an amazing combination of suave, nasaly “peenting” (a sound that you must look up right now if you have never heard it before) and dynamic aerial flight displays at twilight. Some moments the bird is an aerodynamic master, the next it is a potato with googly eyes and a chopstick nose. Truly, the height of romance.
An American Woodcock that posed at the Magee Marsh boardwalk, Ohio, in 2018.
Without being told otherwise, one could easily go through life not knowing of this bird’s existence. Its feather patterns hide it perfectly within its preferred habitat, and it is silent throughout the day. I will never forget the day I walked into my nature writing class at Bard and the professor started explaining woodcocks to us, as they were arriving imminently from migration. The explanation included a “peent” imitation, and I knew immediately that a) this had to be one of the coolest animals on the planet b) this was going to be an amazing class. Fast forward a year later, and I had convinced that same professor to take me out looking for American Woodcocks. We walked up and down a quiet road opposite an old horse pasture as the sun set. I was waiting with baited breath, desperately hoping to find these oddballs. Silence, silence, silence. And then, the most beautiful hysterical sound in the world: PEEEEEEEENT! I was as much in love with a potato with googly eyes and a chopstick beak as one could be.
While not performing their smash hit concerts, American Woodcocks pass the time using their long beaks to probe the soil for earthworms. Even then they are showing off, as they will move in a back-and-forth rocking motion that makes them look as though they are dancing! Aside from providing incredible video footage for YouTube, this rocking motion may disturb the earthworms beneath the soil and cause them to give away their location. Extra woodcock fun facts: despite its preference for fields and wet meadows, this bird is a shorebird. On top of that, its long beak is actually flexible at the tip!
To finish off this exaltation of the woodcock, I must insist that you watch the following YouTube videos, as they are true works of art that really capture the spirit of this hilarious bird. PS: as if it couldn’t get any better, the nickname for this bird is “Timberdoodle!”