[obol] Re: Use of Playback
- From: DJ Lauten and KACastelein <deweysage@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: obol <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 10 Mar 2015 10:23:58 -0700
Bill, Paul, others,
Paul, I agree with you. I think you said it well. I have worked with
birds my whole life, I am a "bird scientist", and I for one have not
been convinced much that playback has such a detrimental effect except
when and where it is abused. I have always been a skeptic of the
claims that it is so bad, don't do it. I have seen very little actual
hard data to support this conclusion. With that said, I think it
behooves us to be careful and thoughtful about when and where and what
our actions are, really not different than photographing birds or the
myriad other things we do with birds. Honestly, if you think playback is
such a bad thing, you best stop driving, because driving is killing way
more birds than playback ever will. And maybe so is bird feeding, or
the windows in your house, etc etc etc. I find it a bit ironic also,
because despite all this talk about using playback, it never ceases to
amaze me how many times I see/hear people pull out their iphones and
playback the bird call/song to attract a bird - in fact it happen just
last week while we were looking for Pine Grosbeaks (and apparently no
harm done) and it even was mentioned happening at the California Towhee
in Brookings recently. I could rattle off a list of birds over the
past year or two where I saw/heard this happen, and not once did anyone
complain or tell someone to stop the action. Yet it seems when we get
on OBOL, there is some sort of lecturing about it. And I don't even
bird all that much! So I think there is a bit of a dichotomy going on,
and I think that there is a rainbow of feelings and actions on the
matter from those who are dead set against it, to those who liberally
use it. And yet there is very little solid evidence that it is really
all that detrimental. If I am wrong, I would be glad to be pointed to
the published literature on this matter. Yes, there may be a handful
of papers, but there is not a mass of them and I think the evidence is
suspect and/or limited. This is not an endorsement of using playback.
As I said above, like most things we do, moderation is the key, and we
need to be sensitive and thoughtful about our actions. I think Paul
did a good job of summarizing the reality. We have brains, use them
appropriately.
Now, it may be that some people right now are thinking, 'whoa, the
moderator chimed in on this topic but did not kill it'. Frankly, I do
think this topic is perfectly fine to discuss on OBOL. If not OBOL,
where? Not everyone reads Birding magazine or any of the other birding
magazines. Where are novices and even experts going to learn and
discuss matters? That is what we are here for. With that said, the
topic does not need to be acrimonious or nasty, and there is no reason
to point fingers or bark at anyone. Paul and Joel posted thoughtful,
nice comments on this matter. We all have the ability to be that way.
My two cents, for what that is worth.....
Cheers
Dave Lauten
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