WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST
I guess early spring has arrived. One of the weirdest or more interesting displays of courtship are seen–or rather heard–by this small guy. The American woodcock is one snowbird that overwinters near the Gulf coast. It normally returns in March to access food sources like earthworms in my moist lawn with its long beak. It also performs its mating ritual at dawn and dusk where it engages in acrobatics and weird repetitious melodies 100 yards into the sky. This performance is to attract a female. Unfortunately, woodcock have apparently been declining 1% annually since the 1960s, mostly due to maturing forests. This little bird needs early successional habitat, fields and shrubby areas for cover, since it’s a ground nester. In any case, I’ve been hearing him each evening, telling me spring has sprung.
May the Forest Be with You,
Ryan Trapani
Director of Forest Services
Catskill Forest Association