WADER DISPLAY FLIGHTS

Most of our breeding waders use display flights to get across their message of territorial ownership and attract the opposite sex. The Snipe has its magic drumming, the Woodcock its crepuscular croaking and squeaking flight called ‘roding’, Lapwings have tumbling flapping flight with added electronic sounding calls, and birds such as Redshanks have flicky-winged attention-seeking song flights. Even larger waders such as Black-tailed Godwits have song flights, in the latter’s case consisting of a very high sideways rocking flight, almost pretending that they have forgotten how to fly properly, while yelping out the raptor like ‘godwit, godwit’ call.