Vernon Holt
Gone But Not Forgotten
Name a native bird that alters it's flight pattern from one season to the next??
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A Pop Quiz for the Idle Minded
- Thread starter Vernon Holt
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Deer Fanatic
Cool ? Useless Billy Deer Guide
I was gonna say mourning doves because they do that gliding thing in the spring but then remembered they are actually a migratory bird.
Vernon Holt
Gone But Not Forgotten
One hundred hits and no correct answers. Not a very good report card for a forum of crack outdoors persons. Will bring it back to the top and give others an opportunity to think about it for a brief period.
Ta-ton-ka chips
GONetwork Member
muddy_feet
Banned
coot 
CAMO84
Senior Member
Turkey Vulture
Vernon Holt
Gone But Not Forgotten
Pop Quiz
Deer Fanatic was ever so close, yet tripped by a mere technicality which was not really a technicality. I would contend that a bird can be both native and migratory.
The bird in mind is the Mourning Dove. Come pairing, mating, and nesting time, the male exhibits a unique (at least to me) courtship activity. He leaves his perch and proceeds to gain altitude in rapid flight. Upon gaining 300 feet or so in altitude, he will set his wings and soar in descending circles and alight by or near his newly acquired mate.
All of this appears to be intended to favorably impress the lady. this flight pattern is referred to as "nuptial flight" and is limited to spring and summer nesting time. The remainder of the year the Mourning Dove is noted for his rapid wing beat, and erratic flight as he darts across a corn or millet field.
Most everybody on this Board knows that Cal has forgotten more about doves than most of us knows. He just got casual on this one.
On second though, in all fairness, I believe Deer Fanatic deserves part credit for his response. First impressions are often correct.
Deer Fanatic was ever so close, yet tripped by a mere technicality which was not really a technicality. I would contend that a bird can be both native and migratory.
The bird in mind is the Mourning Dove. Come pairing, mating, and nesting time, the male exhibits a unique (at least to me) courtship activity. He leaves his perch and proceeds to gain altitude in rapid flight. Upon gaining 300 feet or so in altitude, he will set his wings and soar in descending circles and alight by or near his newly acquired mate.
All of this appears to be intended to favorably impress the lady. this flight pattern is referred to as "nuptial flight" and is limited to spring and summer nesting time. The remainder of the year the Mourning Dove is noted for his rapid wing beat, and erratic flight as he darts across a corn or millet field.
Most everybody on this Board knows that Cal has forgotten more about doves than most of us knows. He just got casual on this one.
On second though, in all fairness, I believe Deer Fanatic deserves part credit for his response. First impressions are often correct.
Quercus Alba
Senior Member
Would the American Woodcock also be correct? They generally fly in an erratic manner at all times but their night time courtship dances are especially odd.
I woulda guessed a duck, since durin` the moult, their flight pattern goes through a big change!
Vernon Holt
Gone But Not Forgotten
Pop Quiz
Perhaps so. I am familiar with the darting and erratic flight pattern of the Woodcock as he picks his way thru heavy cover, but have never witnessed any nightime antics on his part. have seen them migrating at dawn and dusk.
I was reminded of the doves "showing off" antics yesterday while watching one go thru his routine in an urban scene. Seeing this reminded me that it was my Dad who first called this to my attention when I was a mere lad. I was lucky to have had a Dad who was a keen observer and respector of all things natural.
Perhaps so. I am familiar with the darting and erratic flight pattern of the Woodcock as he picks his way thru heavy cover, but have never witnessed any nightime antics on his part. have seen them migrating at dawn and dusk.
I was reminded of the doves "showing off" antics yesterday while watching one go thru his routine in an urban scene. Seeing this reminded me that it was my Dad who first called this to my attention when I was a mere lad. I was lucky to have had a Dad who was a keen observer and respector of all things natural.
Quercus Alba
Senior Member
Mr. Holt, it is truly a sight to see. Here is a description that I copied from another sight although it must be seen to fully appreciate it.
Whatever you call the bird, its dusk courtship flights during the winter months are a spectacle not to be missed. In "Birds of North America" (1895) Frank Chapman describes it well; " How many evenings have I tempted the malaria germs of Jersey lowlands to watch the Woodcock perform his strange sky dance! He begins on the ground with a formal, periodic, "peent," an incongruous preparation for the wild rush that follows. It is repeated several times before he springs from the ground and on whistling wings sweeps out on the first loop of a spiral which may take him 300 feet from the ground. Faster and faster he goes, louder and shriller sounds his wing-song; then, after a moment's pause, with a darting, headlong flight, he pitches in zigzags to the earth, uttering as he falls a clear twittering whistle. He generally returns to near the place from which he arose, and the "peent" is at once resumed as a preliminary to another round in the sky."
To see the courtship flights, you must first find a calling territory. Listen at dusk and in the early evening along the borders of woods for the "peent" call. This call has been described in about as many different ways as the bird has names, but its call sounds similar to a Nighthawk's call, but thinner and more nasal. It might be easier for you to simply listen to a Woodcock we recorded while working in Cheatham county. Spring Peepers are calling in the background. Click here to listen.
In Tennessee the courtship flights have been seen as early as October and as late as May. Typically, we start seeing them and hearing them around the middle of January. They seem to peak around the middle of February. On nights with a moon they may call long into the night.
As for me, the Woodcock's courtship flight always sounds a little bit like a mechanical bird whose engine never has quite enough gas to complete its flight. The whirring wings sound like a tiny motor . As the bird reaches the apex of its flight the gas runs out, the engine skips and then picks back up again a couple of times, and then the bird dives for the ground as the engine sputters and misses. However you describe the Woodcock's courtship performance, the experience of quietly watching a sunset and seeing the twilight flights is one of the wonders of the season.
Whatever you call the bird, its dusk courtship flights during the winter months are a spectacle not to be missed. In "Birds of North America" (1895) Frank Chapman describes it well; " How many evenings have I tempted the malaria germs of Jersey lowlands to watch the Woodcock perform his strange sky dance! He begins on the ground with a formal, periodic, "peent," an incongruous preparation for the wild rush that follows. It is repeated several times before he springs from the ground and on whistling wings sweeps out on the first loop of a spiral which may take him 300 feet from the ground. Faster and faster he goes, louder and shriller sounds his wing-song; then, after a moment's pause, with a darting, headlong flight, he pitches in zigzags to the earth, uttering as he falls a clear twittering whistle. He generally returns to near the place from which he arose, and the "peent" is at once resumed as a preliminary to another round in the sky."
To see the courtship flights, you must first find a calling territory. Listen at dusk and in the early evening along the borders of woods for the "peent" call. This call has been described in about as many different ways as the bird has names, but its call sounds similar to a Nighthawk's call, but thinner and more nasal. It might be easier for you to simply listen to a Woodcock we recorded while working in Cheatham county. Spring Peepers are calling in the background. Click here to listen.
In Tennessee the courtship flights have been seen as early as October and as late as May. Typically, we start seeing them and hearing them around the middle of January. They seem to peak around the middle of February. On nights with a moon they may call long into the night.
As for me, the Woodcock's courtship flight always sounds a little bit like a mechanical bird whose engine never has quite enough gas to complete its flight. The whirring wings sound like a tiny motor . As the bird reaches the apex of its flight the gas runs out, the engine skips and then picks back up again a couple of times, and then the bird dives for the ground as the engine sputters and misses. However you describe the Woodcock's courtship performance, the experience of quietly watching a sunset and seeing the twilight flights is one of the wonders of the season.
Deer Fanatic
Cool ? Useless Billy Deer Guide
I can't believe you won't give me full credit
Yes you are right of course there are I believe some native doves that don't migrate,BUT, the WRD regs still consider them to be a migratory bird.Great post Mr.Vernon!!!
Resica
Senior Member
Absolutely
Resica
Senior Member
Snipe as well.
Resica
Senior Member
Kestrels,hummingbirds.
Dixiesimpleman32
GONetwork Member
what about sandcranes they fly in circles there.
