I agree with David--in a publically accessible area with birds that are
possibly nesting, it's best not to use playback.
Regards,
Tim Brush
Edinburg, TX
-----Original Message-----
From: texbirds-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:texbirds-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On ;
Behalf Of David Sarkozi
Sent: Sunday, January 31, 2016 8:41 AM
To: nicholasdemaio@xxxxxxxxx
Cc: TexBirds <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [texbirds] Re: Houston - Bear Creek Park - Pileated Woodpecker
continuing in same nest hole
I think its important to note that in my opinion this an inappropriate place
and situation to play recordings. I'm not against the use of recordings, but
in heavily birded areas like Bear Creek Park where you believe the bird is
nesting this is the one situation where playing a recording has been
demonstrated to effect the nesting success of males. Repeated use of playback
has been shown to cause males to loose status when they are unsuccessful at
chasing off rivals (your recording).
If you were on private property where you might play a recording only a couple
of times a season, or random road birding where maybe you're the only birder
who will pass by there for years there is little chance of causing any harm. In
a place like Bear Creek Park though where likely 100's of birders will be there
in a week and most with the ability to play recordings too you have to assume
its your recording that will be the straw that breaks the camels back. Assume
your recording is the one too many and don't do it in these heavily birded
places.
On Sat, Jan 30, 2016 at 7:17 PM, Nicholas DeMaio <nicholasdemaio@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Today at Bear Creek Park I saw a Pileated Woodpecker in the same
nest-hole where I saw one about this time last year, which is
interesting given that AllAboutBirds.org that pileated woodpeckers
rarely re-use nest-holes in subsequent years. About half-way between
restroom 9 and 10 is a red stake in the ground. If you're oriented
towards restroom 10, there's a tree several yards to the left with a
nest-hole about 20 feet up. The nest-hole is roughly oval-shaped,
about 4 to 5 inches in length. I found the hole and played the call,
and it popped its head out to investigate. This may be a good opportunity to
see some fledglings come spring.
--
Nicholas DeMaio
Houston, TX <nicholasdemaio@xxxxxxxxx>
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