April Woodland Courting

     Male ruffed grouse, wild turkeys and American woodcocks court in woodlands in the Mid-Atlantic States by early April, each species creating a unique and intriguing show.  Though we may not always see these handsome, upland game birds courting, we can hear them in the woods.
     Because they share a habitat, these birds have characteristics in common, including being camouflaged on forest floors where they live, feed and nest.  Grouse and turkeys are related in the galliforme (chicken) family.  Woodcocks, however, are inland sandpipers, but they are similar to grouse and turkeys because of the environment they share.  Each habitat shapes the creatures living in it into similar beings to be able to use the resources of that habitat.
     Males of each of these species present courtship displays so females of each kind can find them for mating.  Females of each species lay eggs in leafy depressions on forest floors.  The chicks of each type of bird hatch with eyes open, fully fuzzed and camouflaged and ready to feed themselves within 24 hours of hatching.  They must be all that to survive on the floors of woodlands where they can be easy pickings for a variety of predators.  The single mothers of each species brood their young, warn them of danger and show them what to eat.  Surviving youngsters grow quickly and are independent by late summer.      
     Before dawn every morning in April, each male grouse stands upright on a favorite fallen log.  He fans his tail and beats his wings slowly in front of himself, "boom, boom, boom...........".  He quickly accelerates the tempo of wing beating until it sounds like a muffled drum roll for a second or two.  After about a minute's rest the grouse produces another drum roll and another until hunger, or a receptive female or two interrupt him to mate with him.
     Each female grouse lays about one egg a day in her leafy cradle until she has up to 14 of them.  The chicks hatch about three weeks later.
     A small group of Tom turkeys stand together in April woods, fluff out their body feathers, fan their tails upright, drag their wings on the ground and gobble loudly to announce their presence to hen turkeys, encouraging those hens to mate with one or more of the Toms.  Like grouse, each hen turkey lays one egg a day in a depression in the dead-leaf carpet on a woodland floor until she has about 12 of them.  The poults hatch about four weeks later.
     Male American woodcocks have elaborate courtship displays in three parts each evening soon after sunset during March and April.  Each of these long-nosed woodsmen stands upright on a bare spot of soil in an open area near bottomland woods where they hunt earthworms and other invertebrates.  There the crepuscular performer rests his long bill on his chest and vocally "beeps" several times for about a minute.  Then he spirals upward, his wings whistling rhythmically because of a special feather on each wing, until he is almost out of sight in the darkening sky.  At the zenith of his corkscrew climb, he sings a few series of bubbling notes that tumble to the ground, quickly followed by the plunging singer to the same bare spot, or another, to start his display over again, and again.  Each male woodcock continues his courtship display time after time, evening after evening, being interrupted only by hunger or receptive females. 
     Each female woodcock lays four eggs in a clutch on a bottomland woods floor.  And being a sandpiper, she would lay ONLY four eggs per clutch.
     This April, and succeeding ones, listen for the displays of these species.  They are intriguing, and bring the genders of each kind of bird together for mating.