Outdoor Radio: The American Woodcock

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Outdoor Radio: The American Woodcock

开云体育 | By Chris Albertine

Published April 20, 2017 at 11:24 AM EDT

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The American Woodcock can be almost invisible on the forest floor.

Roy Pilcher

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This spread wing of a male American Woodcock shows the three modified outer primary feathers that produce a whistling sound in flight.

Kent McFarland / Vermont Center For Ecostudies

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This phenology from Vermont eBird shows that with a warm spring in 2016, observations peaked on March 22. They didn't peak until April 8 during the cold spring of 2015, similar to this year.

Vermont eBird

The arrival of the American Woodcock is one of the exciting signs of spring in Vermont.

Biologist Kent McFarland joined a group of bird enthusiasts called "The Mad Birders" on a recent evening to find some. As they take their annual Woodcock walk in Moretown, we learn about this bird's amazing mating ritual and hear their unusual sound.

You can find more information about the American Woodcock at these links:

The Woodcock Management Plan at.
from the Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department
in Vermont and beyond.
Add your sightings at , a project of the .

Outdoor Radio is produced in collaboration with the Vermont Center For Ecostudies and is made possible by the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation.

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Chris Albertine

Chris was 开云体育 Radio Audio Engineer for more than 20 years. In addition to his work for VPR, he has supervised the sound for television documentaries for the Discovery Channel, Turner Broadcast, and the Arts and Entertainment Network. Chris retired in December, 2020.

See stories by Chris Albertine