I was up on Bald Hill (Caroline) last evening, and was slightly surprised to see an AMER. WOODCOCK begin its flight display. The surprise was mainly because I hadn't heard any "peents". I watched its flight display for the next half hour before it stopped, and heard only one good "peent". I had always assumed the "peents" were a package deal with the "wing twitter" (ascent) and "flight song" (descent), but this is apparently not so. It then appears the "peents" function as an aggressive call to other males to stay away, and if there is no competition, as there did not appear to be in the field last night, then they are not used.
Steve Fast Brooktondale -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
