The American woodcock has one of the oddest appearances of any bird in Pennsylvania, with an amazingly long bill protruding from a round head atop a stocky, round body.

It also has one of the more unusual courtship rituals, known as the sky dance, which is currently on display on singing grounds across Pennsylvania and beyond.

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Just after sunset

The sky dance of the American woodcock is one of the more elaborate courtship rituals among all the wild things of Pennsylvania.

On a warm evening, with clear skies and little wind, in late March through mid-May – about 20 minutes after sunset, when the light is just right – the male woodcock arrives on his singing grounds, a clearing in a young forest.

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Sounds like "peent"

On that stage, which he selected days before, the woodcock begins to call. It’s a nasal, buzzy “peent” that he repeats every 3 or 4 seconds. He issues several peents in one direction, shifts 90 degrees for another series of peents, shifts 90 degrees again for a third series or peents and a fourth 90-degree shift for another series.

Listen to the peent of the male woodcock in this video.

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200-300 feet above the ground

After about a minute or so, having issued his calls to any females in the area and at the same time warned off any potentially competing males, he suddenly launches. First, he flies parallel to the ground in a circle and then adds altitude in a series of tightening arcs 200-300 feet in the air. Throughout his ascent, air rushing through his primary wing feathers produces a musical twittering.

As the male’s sky dance reaches its peak, he hovers there briefly before folding his wings and diving earthward. It checks its fall and resumes its dive several times in a zigzagging pattern before landing near the spot from which it launched. The descent can last 15 seconds, and all the while the male chirps melodically.

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Just before daybreak

The male repeats his sky dance several times over the next 45 minutes, and then again for a similar session just before daybreak.

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Lowland clearings

For their sky-dance launching pad/stage, male woodcocks prefer damp, but not wet, lowlands, in clearings, often among young alder, aspen or willow trees.

That type of habitat can be found in many spots across Pennsylvania, as can sky-dancing woodcock, but there are some known locations, where chances of experiencing the activity are better.

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Memory Lake State Park, a likely spot

Here are some of those promising locations: Memorial Lake State Park, at Fort Indiantown Gap in northern Lebanon County; Swatara Gap State Park, at Suedberg, in northern Lebanon and southern Schuylkill counties; Ontelaunee Lake, near Leesport in Berks County; Nockamixon State Park, near Quakertown in Bucks County; Blue Marsh Lake, near Bernville in Berks County.

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Middle Creek and some other promising locations

And, here are some more promising locations for experiencing the sky dance of the American woodcock: Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area near Kleinfeltersville, in northern Lancaster and southern Lebanon counties; Gifford Pinchot State Park near Lewisberry in York County; Shawnee State Park at Schellsburg in Bedford County.

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Marcus Schneck | mschneck@pennlive.com

Some other spots worth a look

More locations worth checking for American woodcock in spring: State Game Lands 82, near Meyersdale in Somerset County; Roaring Run Natural Area near Hidden Valley in Somerset County; Raystown Lake near Huntingdon in Huntingdon County; State Game Lands 180 at Lords Valley in Pike County.

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Marcus Schneck | mschneck@pennlive.com

The Nature Inn in Bald Eagle State Park, and more

The shrubland at the Nature Inn in Bald Eagle State Park at Howard in Centre County is one of the most likely places in Pennsylvania to witness the sky dance of the American woodcock.

Some other locations worth a visit are Black Moshannon State Park near Philipsburg in Centre County; Bear Meadows Natural Area near Boalsburg in Centre County; State Game Lands 285 near Darlington in Beaver County; Erie National Wildlife Refuge at Guys Mills in Crawford County; State Game Lands 34 near Medix in Elk County.

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Also known as

The woodcock also is known by many other folk names, including timberdoodle, night partridge, big-eye, bogsucker and mudsnipe.

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Migration

In mild winters a few woodcock may stick around southern Pennsylvania, but the species is mostly migratory. A majority of the birds will spend each winter in the Carolinas, Georgia and northern Florida west to eastern Texas and Arkansas, concentrating in Louisiana and Mississippi. In late winter or early spring the birds return to the north.

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A diet of worms

Earthworms make up about 60 percent of a woodcock’s diet, with another 30 percent coming from insects and the final 10 percent coming in the form of seeds from plants, mostly wild grasses.

Each day a woodcock eats nearly its weight in worms, hunted mostly in the near-dawn and early evening.

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Nesting nearby

The hens that a male woodcock attracts with its sky dance usually make their nests within 150 yards of the singing grounds, although the male takes no part in nesting or caring for the chicks.

Nesting spots usually at in damp woods near water, old fields with low ground cover and briar patches, the edges of shrub thickets and stands of young conifers. Average height of surrounding vegetation is 12 feet.

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A simple nest

Many woodcock nests are simply slight depression on the ground among dead leaves. Some may be edged with twigs and lined with pine needles.

Nesting takes place late March into June in Pennsylvania.

Each female lays an average of four eggs, which she incubates for 19-22 days.

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Fast-developing chicks

Chicks can fly short distances 2 weeks after hatching, and are nearly full-grown and able to fly strongly after another 2 weeks. They will go off on their own at 6-8 weeks.

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More about woodcock in Pennsylvania