Breeding
In Spring, males occupy individual singing grounds, openings near brushy cover from which they call and perform display flights at dawn and dusk, and if the light levels are high enough on moonlit nights. The male's ground call is a short, buzzy peent. After sounding a series of ground calls, the male takes off and flies from 50 to 100 yards into the air. He descends, zigzagging and banking while singing a liquid, chirping song. This high spiralling flight produces a melodious twittering sound as air rushes through the male's outer primary wing feathers.
Males may continue with their courtship flights for as many as four months running – sometimes continuing even after females have already hatched their broods and left the nest.
Females, known as hens, are attracted to the males' displays. A hen will fly in and land on the ground near a singing male. The male courts the female by walking stiff-legged and with his wings stretched vertically, and by bobbing and bowing. A male may mate with several females. The male Woodcock plays no role in selecting a nest site, incubating eggs, or rearing young. In the primary northern breeding range, the Woodcock may be the earliest ground-nesting species to breed.
Read more about this topic: American Woodcock
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