Drumming is a sound produced by snipe

Snipe

A snipe is any of about 25 wading bird species in three genera in the family Scolopacidae. They are characterized by a very long, slender bill and crypsis plumage. The Gallinago snipes have a nearly worldwide distribution, the Lymnocryptes Jack Snipe is restricted to Asia and Europe and the...

 as part of their courtship display

Courtship display

Courtship display is a special, sometimes ritualised, set of behaviours which some animals perform as part of courtship. Courtship behaviours can include special calls, postures, and movements, and may involve special plumage, bright colours or other ornamentation. A good example is the 'dancing'...

 flights. The sound is produced mechanically (rather than vocally) by the vibration of the modified outer tail feathers, held out at a wide angle to the body, in the slipstream of a power dive. The display is usually crepuscular

Crepuscular

Crepuscular animals are those that are active primarily during twilight, that is during dawn and dusk. The word is derived from the Latin word crepusculum, meaning "twilight." Crepuscular is, thus, in contrast with diurnal and nocturnal behavior. Crepuscular animals may also be active on a bright...

, or given throughout moonlit nights. The behaviour is generally characteristic of the genera Coenocorypha

Coenocorypha

Coenocorypha is a genus of tiny birds in the sandpiper family, also known as the New Zealand snipes, which are now only found on New Zealand's outlying islands. There are currently six extinct species and three living species, with the Subantarctic Snipe having three subspecies, including the...

, Gallinago

Gallinago

Gallinago is a genus of birds in the wader family Scolopacidae, containing 16 species. This genus contains the majority of the world's snipe species, the other three extant genera being Coenocorypha, with two species, and Lymnocryptes, the Jack Snipe. Morphologically, they are all similar, with a...

and Lymnocryptes. Some sounds made by the closely related woodcock

Woodcock

The woodcocks are a group of seven or eight very similar living species of wading birds in the genus Scolopax. Only two woodcocks are widespread, the others being localized island endemics. Most are found in the Northern Hemisphere but a few range into Wallacea...

s (Scolopax spp.) in the course of their 'roding' display flights may be homologous

Homology (biology)

Homology forms the basis of organization for comparative biology. In 1843, Richard Owen defined homology as "the same organ in different animals under every variety of form and function". Organs as different as a bat's wing, a seal's flipper, a cat's paw and a human hand have a common underlying...

 to drumming.

The sound made by Gallinago snipes has been variously described as "drumming", "bleating", "throbbing", a "rattle" and an "eerie fluting". The drumming of the Jack Snipe

Jack Snipe

The Jack Snipe, Lymnocryptes minimus is a small stocky wader. It is the smallest snipe, and the only member of the genus Lymnocryptes...

 (Limnocryptes minimus) has been likened to the sound made by a cantering or galloping horse. Miskelly records Coenocorypha snipes giving a non-vocal “roar” homologous to the drumming displays of Gallinago snipes. When breeding in northern Japan, Latham's Snipe

Latham's Snipe

Latham's Snipe, Gallinago hardwickii, also known as Japanese Snipe, is a medium-sized , long-billed, migratory wader.-Identification:...

(Gallinago hardwickii) are known as “thunder birds” for the drumming noise made in the course of their display flights.