On Friday afternoon, hundreds of bird watchers flocked to New York City’s Bryant Park to get a peek at an American Woodcock doing its leafy little dance — and it ruffled feathers in the best way.
These tiny flyers are tough to spot — their avian camouflage is a perfect fit with a woodsy floor because their plumage blends into the foliage like nature’s beakiest fashionistas.
Which, of course, makes them an egg-stra exciting sight for devoted — and even casual — birders.
The American Woodcock is comically round — like a feathery meatball with legs — and sports large, orbital eyes perched way back on its head like built-in rear-view mirrors.
They’re famously known for making a buzzy, nasal “peent” sound, which listeners often hear as “meep.”
The itty-bitty chirper — about 10 inches long and only weighing in at five-to-eight ounces — is a sure sign that spring has officially sprung because that’s when they leave their homes in the south and make their way towards the Canadian border.
Naturally, the sighting set social media a-flutter.
“I just realized that it is also called a ‘timberdoodle.’ It is such a lovely bird and brings so much joy in the park and online around the world,” one bird lover cooed on X.
Another quipped, “Where’s his cash container? Looks like he’s busking/dancing for the crowd.”
“Urban birding at its finest, nature’s little surprise in the city,” swooned a third.
According to the National Audubon Society, American Woodcocks, which live about eight years, are related to sandpipers and prefer to wing it low-key during the day, hiding out in forest thickets.
With its long bill, it probes damp soil for earthworms — using a signature dance move that sends vibrations through the ground to worm its way to dinner.
Folks at the park couldn’t resist mimicking the bird’s boogie woogie in a joyful, slightly wobbly, celebration that says sometimes, even in the heart of busy Manhattan, nature can wing by and leave everyone more star struck than any movie A-lister.
But the cutie is only in the Big Apple for a short stay to rest its wings.
The Bryant Park blog, devoted to the birdies, said the tiny dancers don’t nest, they simply get a little peckish on their way north and dip down to earth for a quick bite.
