From 'Timberdoodles' to Chickadees, the Marshlands Conservancy Has it All for Bird Watchers

Anyone who has ever had any curiosity about the mating rituals of birds can peek his or her interest at Rye’s Marshland Conservancy.

Each night at the conservancy, visitors can witness what has been called the “fascinating courtship display” of the “Timberdoodle,” a bird that is often referred to as the American Woodcock.

For no matter what you see or hear, the Marshlands can be a fascinating place. On a recent Sunday night, I, Marshlands curator Scott Williamson and naturalists, Andrea Thomen and Chris Mignone, made a walk-through of the conservancy to learn about the courting ritual firsthand during an event called the “Twilight Journey.”

The Marshlands, which sits on more than 170 acres, is the only extensive saltwater marsh in Westchester. It is “one of the top birding areas in Westchester with more than 300 species to be found here,” according to Williamson.

“The best time to see those birds is usually just before dawn or twilight, around 5:30 p.m., when they are gathering their food and singing,” Thomen said. “It’s very quiet here, which makes for a special atmosphere. And it’s not just the birds that are stirring, it’s the raccoons, the possum, the deer, like a whole forest coming to life.”

Williamson, a former Navy signalmen who spent extensive service time in Alaska, has been with the Westchester County Parks system since 1989, and spends lots of time at the Marshlands and the nearby Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary in Rye's Playland Park, both along a migratory flyway.

Williamson says the crepuscular nocturnal hours—from twilight to dusk—are special times at the Marshlands, and the last three weeks in February extending into March are extra special because of the American Woodcock courtship display in the field at dusk.

What makes that display extra special covers a lot of ground. 

“For starters, it’s like clockwork. The ‘Timberdoodle’ or American Woodcock starts his courtship display exactly 22 minutes after sunset—how he knows that’s the time nobody knows, but that’s when he starts,” said Mignone. “It’s the same thing at dawn, only I can’t remember whether it starts at 22 minutes before sunrise or 22 minutes after. I’ve never been here that early.”

And just what goes into that display, we asked.

“Well the male starts jumping up and down, higher and higher, making this courting sound that sounds like beeent, beeent, beeent, and then he starts spinning in circles, and his wings make a whirring sound until he is almost like a small, big-beaked blur that takes off and soars upwards 100 feet, 200 feet, and then dives down, chirping a sound like dede, dede, dede until he lands,” said Mignone. “He repeats it again and again until he attracts a female.”

But if you’re interested in viewing this ritual, you’ll have to go to the Marshlands to see and hear it for yourself.

And if you are really lucky, you may also see shorebirds, waders, rails (including an occasional King), both salt marsh sparrows, Marsh Wren, Seaside Sparrow and many others in and around the estuarine salt marsh, mud flats, open field, woodland habitats and two small lakes.

If you are truly fortunate and know your birds, you may even spot the famed and extremely rare Wood Sandpiper or the Yellow-breasted Chats. They are on the Marshlands rarity list that also includes the Black Rail, American Avocet, Ruff, Red-necked Phalarope, Little Gull, Boreal Chickadee, Sedge Wren, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Boat-tailed Grackle and others.

Especially fascinating around this bone-chilling time of year is the way the birds go into what Ms. Thomen called a “Torque” state, a kind of self-induced coma that makes them able to seemingly be oblivious to the big chill as they weather whatever nature throws at them.

But you can hear details like that for yourself. Dress warmly and bring binoculars if you have them, the guides advise.

For more information: 914-835-4466; www.westchestergov.com/parks. The Marshlands is open from dawn to dusk. It is part of the Westchester County parks system. The entrance is located on the east side of US Route 1, Boston Post Road.