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1 September 2013 Unusual Courtship Behaviors by Male American Woodcock
James B. Berdeen, David G. Krementz
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Abstract

Male Scolopax minor (American Woodcock ) occasionally perform courtship behaviors outside of the primary breeding period. The costs and benefits of such behaviors are not known. We observed a Woodcock perform an aerial courtship display in Minnesota on 8 November 2010, a juvenile male emit peent vocalizations in Virginia on 12 December 1991, and a solitary individual emit a cackle vocalization in Georgia on 28 December 1994. These behaviors may have been aberrations that are selected against and therefore uncommon, influenced by environmental conditions, or performed to improve the quality of male courtship behaviors. Research and monitoring are needed to ascertain which if any of these explanations is correct.

James B. Berdeen and David G. Krementz "Unusual Courtship Behaviors by Male American Woodcock," Southeastern Naturalist 12(3), (1 September 2013). https://doi.org/10.1656/058.012.0319
Published: 1 September 2013
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