takes off, rises to a height of around and then after a short circling flight, makes a slow, 'parachuting' descent, often with the wings held up in a 'v' shape. The song has the function of attracting a mate, rather than keeping other males away, and is stopped as soon as a mate is found. Contact calls are described as chirr or kerr; and these calls are repeated quickly to form a rattling alarm call.

Studies have found that early-arriving males occupy the best breeding territories. A study in Nottinghamshire,