This is Bird Note.

As the sun sets on a northern Midwest forest, we hear a most peculiar sound.

It's an American woodcock, a loft on a courtship flight.

At sunset, the male woodcock walks slowly on short legs

from the cover of the forest to a nearby clearing.

After a few sharp calls,

the woodcock takes flight.

As it spirals upward, slim, stiff feathers at its wingtips

create a curious twittering.

At the apex of its flight, the woodcock circles,

then descends in a slow spiral,

put putting like a tiny car about to run out of gas.

As it lands, we can see in the last light its beautifully patterned gray back and orange belly.

The mill will display at dawn and dusk for more than two months each spring.

The Woodcock's odd looks and sounds have earned it many colorful nicknames.

The most memorable? Timberdoodle.

Let's listen to the Timberdoodle one more time.

For Bird Note, I'm Mary McCann.

Birdnote gives you the sounds of birds every day,

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At BirdNote Radio.