7 May 2020
By now the American woodcocks who performed sky dances in early March have become parents. The females nested on the ground last month, hatched the eggs in three weeks, and the chicks walked off the nest to follow their mother until they’re independent in just over a month.
Following Mother means copying every move she makes. Quite soon the tiny chicks are doing the Woodcock Walk.
American woodcocks (Scolopax minor) eat earthworms which they find by probing the soil and grabbing them with their flexible upper mandibles. To convince the worms to rise to the surface the birds “charm” them by treading firmly and rocking back and forth. Amazingly they also do this when they are caught (observed) out in the open. It’s certainly charming to us!
Below, two baby woodcocks sway-step with mom.
Jkhkhjjmkhj! LOOK AT THESE BABY WOODCOCKS PRACTICING THEIR BOOTY BOP
— Kaeli Swift, Ph.D. (@corvidresearch) April 17, 2020
Video credit: https://t.co/WNgg06nHQY pic.twitter.com/OikRng7bgd
Even when they’re almost grown they follow mother step by step and freeze in place when she does.
Perhaps I’ll see woodcocks somewhere in Allegheny County this month. I usually see them at Magee Marsh, Ohio this week — where Charlie Hickey took this photo in 2013 — but the Boardwalk is closed this year for the COVID-19 shutdown.
(photo by Charlie Hickey, videos embedded from Twitter and YouTube)
Very charming! I was looking forward to my first greatest week and am so sad having to cancel. Birding by car yesterday.
we need a musical soundtrack for the videos
If you run across one in a field or high grass, Woodcocks freeze so well you almost have to step on them to flush them. Happened to me once when dove hunting at Keystone Power Dam area.
I’ve seen them a few times in Beechwood Farms upper meadows.
Hi there,
Here’s another Falcon Cam in NYC that you might be interested in. They had 4 eggs but it looks like only 2 hatched. It’s been great watching them!
https://www.55water.com/falcon-cam/
So cuuuute! ? I’m definitely missing Magee Marsh also. The last two Saturdays, I drove up to hit Ottawa NWR woods and auto tour, Metzger Marsh, Boss Unit, and Howard Marsh. Definitely not the same as Magee, but I at least scratched some of the itch. ? Thanks for sharing this! Oddly enough, even though I live in Pittsburgh, I’ve never birded around here until just recently. My 4 aunts and uncle got me into birding with them in Ohio, so I always travel up there to go birding with all of them. And now that I’m finding all of the wonderful birds that we have here, I’m starting to venture out and bird a lot by myself and I’m loving it! Please feel free to share your favorite places to bird around the area! So far I have done Frick Park, Mingo Creek Park, and Raccoon. I definitely want to try Schenley soon… Happy birding, all!
Sorry for all of the extra question marks… apparently, you can’t add emojis in here! Lol
(Tammi, I removed them after you pointed them out — KateStJ)