Dear Lilliputian ,
This chubby little fellow is a Woodcock . If you go out when it is dusk you may hear the Woodcock serenading the female Woodcock of his dreams . For years I thought the sound I would hear when I went out to close the chicken coop door for the night was that of a lonely toad . It was only a few years ago I discovered that it was the illusive Woodcock trying to attract a mate . The reason I am writing to you about the Woodcock is because they are not just like other birds . When trying to attract a mate they don't just puff themselves up to look handsome , or try to sing the most melodious song to woo a mate , the Woodcock does a magnificent flight . He flies up in the air high over the field , his wings making a whistling sound and when he thinks he has impressed any of the females watching ... he flies back to earth making , . . . if you can believe it . . . . a kissing noise . Isn't that just hysterical . And , then to top it all off he does a silent landing , maybe so only the female Woodcock watching will know where he landed . This is the time of year you can hear them , and if it isn't too dark , see them in flight . In my back field it only happens for a few weeks . You may or may not have them in your field ... but it would be worth going out after dinner and before bedtime and just listen . I will post a link to a great sight about birds . If you go to the page you will see a Woodcock photo and if you scroll down you will see the word SOUND . If you click on that you will see a few calls to choose from , the Peent call and Flight and wing sound are the two that I have written about here .
This behavior of the Woodcock is for just a short time so I hope you have some in your backyard and you get to hear them .
This time I will recommend a book about a bird that can't make any noise ,
It is very silly .
The Trumpet of the Swan by E . B . White
Until next time ,
Wildbee
No comments:
Post a Comment
If you have a question or a comment please leave one here.