I think it is all about degrees and judgement. Any argument can be made to sound absurd if you push it to an extreme. Buy we live in the multi-hued land between the extremes.
Bill Pulliam Hohenwald TN On Jun 6, 2014, at 12:12 PM, Rick Phillips wrote:
Hey guys,One thought that keeps popping up in my mind. I'm a former wildlife biologist with the US Forest Service Southern Research Station and a long time birder and naturalist. I have participated in many a survey of breeding birds and have done a fair amount of bird photography during the breeding season. I have used playbacks to detect the presence of individuals and occasionally for photography. My question is this...if we are going to frown upon activities (especially during the breeding season) that alter the "normal" activities of breeding birds, then isn't just walking through an area where birds are breeding likely to induce behaviors that might signal predators or cause birds to expend additional energy that could possibly lead to increased mortality? I was walking along the edge of a woodland stream yesterday and for a long time I had a pair of Louisiana Waterthrushes following and chipping, most likely because they had young in the area. Maybe a nest, maybe just fledglings, but something that was "disturbing" them. Isn't that additional energy expenditure detrimental...or is this kind of energy different from that expended responding to a song playback.?Are we going to limit any interactions with birds (especially during the breeding season) that "disturb" them? Like, maybe we should just stay away from birds during the breeding season altogether. Aren't most birds (unless rare), normally hearing other males singing and interacting with other individuals during the breeding season as a part of their natural behaviors? I'm not saying I condone playbacks to attract or detect the presence of individuals, but what's ok as far as disturbance and what isn't? Which species? How much? Just things that run through my head every time I see one of these discussions regarding "disturbance" come up.Rick
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