THE
TIMBERDOODLE
This
bird, also known as a woodcock, stays hidden until dusk or
dawn's
dim
light and like to be around damp pine woods and hardwood swamps.
They
feed day or night, probing in soft soil with their very long bills
for
earthworms
. It's nest are depressions on flat ground in woods or thickets
and
it's eggs are mostly eaten by snakes. Young, just hatched birds,
leave
the
nest within an hour of being hatched. A nest usually contains four
eggs.
The
most interesting action of this fowl is it's sky dancing during
the
spring
courtship where it selects a breeding ground to sing and dance
right
after nightfall . After five minutes of beeping, it flushes, rises
fast to
fifty
feet, it's wings create a musical twitter, flying in wide circles,
then
hovers
as he pours forth a series of chirps and he glides to the ground
in
a
zig zag course to the spot he launched himself seconds before.
The
Timberdoodle migrates south in fall to southeastern marshes.
Abstract:
“Blackwater” National Wildlife Refuge, Dorchester county
Maryland,
by Brook Meanley
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