Photo Details
1. May 7, 2005 - Moroni, Sanpete County, Utah - ©Sean Breazeal
2. May 16, 2004 - Heber Fields, Wasatch County, Utah -
©NJDavis
Description
L 10.5 WS 18,
Barred
flanks, Striped head, Striped Back, White Belly, Long Gray Bill,
yellowish
legs
Behavior
Lives in wet
meadows,
marshes and bogs. Eats by plunging bill into soft ground to find larvae
of craneflies and other insects, earthworms, crayfish, mollusks, frogs
and seed. Male and female do morning or evening aerial courting display
over nest area where they rise over 300 feet in the air then dive
down.
Air vibration through the two outer tail feathers makes a whinnying
sound.
They lay 4 spotted olive-buff eggs in nest of grasses leaves and moss
placed
in a depression in a bog. One brood per season with incubation taking
18-20
days. Chicks are precocial.
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