Timberdoodles and What They Do
One sign of spring that not many people know about is the American Woodcock's mating display. Male woodcocks (nicknamed "timberdoodles") have a beautiful skydance. They perform it in clearings near the edges of woods on early spring evenings and mornings before dawn in the eastern states and extreme southeastern provinces.
Leopold noted that woodcock only perform this display at low light levels, "the dancer demanding a romantic light intensity of exactly 0.05 foot-candles. Do not be late, and sit quietly, lest he fly away in a huff."
Woodcocks have an exquisitely designed beak which allows them to eat enormous quantities of earthworms. The tip of the bill senses earthworms by touch and even smell. The bill is long enough to reach worms more than two inches down in the soil, and when it encounters a worm the bill can remain closed, with just the tip opening to grasp the worm without also getting a mouthful of mud.
Another really interesting thing about woodcocks is that they have the SLOWEST powered flight of any bird! When a woodcock is flying forward at normal cruising speed, it's only going about 5 mph.