The male woodcock’s courtship flight is spectacular to behold. At sunset he flies to the singing grounds and gives an insect-like “peent” call.
He then takes to the air, flying in a low circle about 200 feet in diameter, then climbing higher and higher in an ever-smaller circle until he is 200 to 300 feet high. As he climbs, his rapid wing beats create a musical twittering sound.
At the apex of his flight he begins to emit his true song—a variable series of liquid notes—which he repeats several times as he zigzags erratically back down to his starting point on the ground.
Text Source: Ohio Department of Natural Resources Woodcock page.
The Woodcock in these images died after crashing into a window near Indiana Avenue and 18th Street in Chicago and is now in the collection of The Field Museum