During nest excavation, a bird may perform a courtship flight. This flight consists of the sapsucker rapidly flapping its wings below its partner. It seems to build the pair bond and help increase attachment to the nest. Members of a pair also perform a dance where they bob their heads and repeatedly opening their wings halfway. They also have the courtship ritual of touching their bills together. Courtship additionally consists of giving "quirk" notes and, from a distance, "kwee-urk" calls. Copulation can consist of the female perching perpendicularly on a branch, the male mounting her back, gradually falling backwards and to the left, until he is upside down and at a right angle to the female.