Bird banding at Seven Islands State Birding Park sometimes brings surprises. Our banding session on March 27th, brought a special one. An American Woodcock was the first bird captured in our nets.
Above, Master Bander, Mark Armstrong holds the woodcock so the rest of the banding team can see him/her before release.
Mark described the woodcock's beak as "soft as a noodle" while he was removing him/her from the net, but as soon as he was free, the beak hardened again. The woodcock's beak is specially adapted for finding and digging earthworms in the forest floor.
This quote from Birds of North America describes some of the woodcocks unique qualities: "Several features help to distinguish this forest-dwelling shorebird from its more aquatic relatives (Scolopacidae): a long bill specialized for feeding on earthworms, a stout head with large eyes set far back for rearview binocular vision, a polygynous mating system, sexes monomorphic in color with females substantially larger than males, and plumage with mottled, leaf-brown patterns that blend superbly with the forest floor. Indeed, the body and behavior of this woodcock have given it many colorful vernacular names such as timberdoodle, Labrador twister, night partridge, and bog sucker."
The Woodcock is a game bird so we did not band or record this capture, we just admired it and released. No one expects to see a woodcock at such close range and this was quite a treat for all of us!
In addition to the their "penting" call during courtship, the male woodcock makes a rushing sound with its outer flight feathers.
Most of the rest of our banded birds were goldfinches, sparrows, cardinals and chickadees, but we did have one special catch at our last net run--a beautiful male Tree Swallow!
Tree Swallows have just returned to east Tennessee from their wintering grounds and they were flying in groups, all around the area, checking out the nest boxes.
It was delightful to listen to their calls and hear their chattering as they landed on the nest boxes and considered their options. Seven Islands has a nest box trail of about 50 boxes that provide homes for chickadees, wrens, swallows and bluebirds.
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