The American woodcock, also known as a timberdoodle, has nesting places at Moraine State Park that will be touched upon in a Thursday evening event.

The American woodcock (also known as the timberdoodle) population is dwindling around the country because of shrinking habitats and aging forests.

But around this time of year, evening visitors to Moraine State Park can sometimes see pairs of the birds doing the timberdoodle flutter.

“It’s basically a courtship ritual,” said Jeff Herrick, habitat management biologist with the Wildlife Management Institute based in Ohio. “They take off, go about 270 feet in the air, then make big circles that get wider and wider and faster and faster and sounds like twittering. The next thing you know is they’re back on the ground.”

On Thursday evening, Herrick is leading a workshop at Moraine during which he will help visitors spot American woodcocks as they do the timberdoodle flutter.

This is an excerpt from a larger article that appears in Tuesday’s Butler Eagle. Subscribe online or print to read the full article.