[tn-bird] Re: Hummers and Pishing

>> I was wondering if some of you might answer a >>question I have concerning
>> hummers, especially the learned Bob Sargent. >>Within the last couple of 
>> weeks
>> I have had hummers come to trees where I was >>trying to raise some hidden
>> Passerines by pishing. 
>> Roger Mayhorn

>Another weird one you may want to try is pishing >for shorebirds!  Don't laugh 
>and throw me off of Tennessee Birds until you try >it.  I first saw it used 
>successfully in Alaska by Dave Stejskal of Tucson, >one of Field Guides, 
>Inc.'s super bird guides. 

>Bob Sargent

That one really got me. Why on earth would you want to or have to pish 
shorebirds? I can possibly understand the irresistible urge to pish a bird 
hidden in the bush so you can see it, but shorebirds are in the open and 
there's no need to disturb them. One would hope to observe them quietly and 
unobtrusively, as all of our bird viewing ideally should be. As birders, there 
are few ways of observing birds without disturbance, but we should try to 
minimize the disturbance as much as possible.

There has been talk of pishing and playing screech owl tapes to draw birds into 
the open. It worries me that newer birders may be drawn to these means because 
they see that the good birders are doing it and seeing a lot more birds than 
they are. I urge you to keep these disturbances to a minimum, and they are 
disturbances. Often times birds will continue to feed during an owl tape, but 
there are several species who stop everything to give complete attention to the 
tape and when that occurs the tape should be stopped immediately. Thrushes and 
Phoebes come to mind and there are others. Pishing, however, while it doesn't 
draw birds from as far away as tapes, is usually more disruptive to the nearby 
birds. The birds stop everything and give it their complete attention and leave 
the area as soon as it stops. You have just driven them away from a place they 
preferred to be, but no longer feel safe. And never, never play tapes and pish 
while birds are nesting. They need to devote all their time to caring for their 
young and shouldn't have to show themselves for your benefit.

We all could stand a little self examination in our birding ethics, and I am no 
exception. I have pished and I have played tapes, but I am learning to curb my 
zeal. We also could be more critical in examining other practices relating to 
birds. Banding birds is another area that could use some attention. I believe 
the recovery rate of banded birds is about 2%. In other words you'd have to 
band 50 birds to recover one. That's disturbing a lot of birds for so little 
result. I'd guess the recovery rate for hummers to be higher and the facts 
learned are certainly interesting. There are six hummers for every one you see. 
That's fascinating, but do we need to know it? It sates our curiosity but how 
does it benefit the hummers? Keeping them long enough to measure their body fat 
to see if they are able to continue migration? They know when they are ready 
and we don't need to. Just keep your feeders up until the solution freezes.

I think it would be wonderful to hold a bird in my hand and see it close up and 
have several times considered attending a banding session. But I know in my 
heart it isn't right and as much as I would like to, the love of birds and 
what's best for them is more important. If banding is done at all the birds 
should be released as quickly as possible and taking time to let others hold 
them or photograph them is unnecessarily delaying the release. I am not 
accusing Bob Sargent of any of these practices, and from what I have read I'd 
bet he doesn't let anyone else handle the birds he captures.

From what I have seen most banders are conscientious and caring people, and 
often some of the nicest people you would ever want to meet. As birders we 
disturb birds more than nonbirders, but no one disturbs birds more than banders.

Sheb Marsh
Paducah, KY  



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