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Hi all,
Funny how things come up; this thread on pishing started up just as I
was about to thank Bob Farmer, a grad student at Dal, for sending me
the abstract of a recent scientific paper on pishing, which I've
pasted below.
The abstract is well nigh unintelligible, but after a couple reads I
think they're suggesting pishing works because it sounds like the
scolding calls given by the chickadee family -- calls which many
species within the range of that family are clued in to.
Cheers,
Andy Horn
Halifax
Author(s): Langham GM (Langham, Gary M.), Contreras TA (Contreras,
Thomas A.), Sieving KE (Sieving, Kathryn E.)
Source: ECOSCIENCE Volume: 13 Issue: 4 Pages: 485-496
Published: 2006
Times Cited: 0 References: 55
Abstract: Pishing is a term used for the "psshh" noise made by bird
watchers to elicit close approaches by small birds. Pishing usually
attracts multiple species when used in Holarctic habitats, but it
produces limited responses in other regions. We propose that responses
to pishing occur most often because the sound mimics predator scold
calls of species in family Paridae, whose members are resident
primarily in the Holarctic. Using both field playback of recorded
alarm calls and pishing and bioacoustic analysis of calls, we tested
three hypotheses: (1) a generalized mobbing response to parid scold
calls has evolved among forest birds in the Holarctic region; (2)
pishing generates overt predator mobbing behaviour in diverse avian
taxa; (3) pishing generates mobbing behaviour because of its acoustic
similarity to parid scold calls. In playback trials in northern
California, scolds of local and exotic parids and pishing elicited
more vigorous mobbing responses than did the alarm calls of local
non-parid species. Parid scolds shared two frequency metrics distinct
from non-parid calls, and pishing shared one frequency metric with
parid calls that was distinct from non-parid calls. We provide support
for a generalized (mobbing) response elicited in Holarctic bird
communities by parid scolds that could explain similar close-approach
responses to pishing and provide evidence that scold call structural
similarity with pishing may underlie the shared behavioural responses.
This is the first test of mechanisms underlying pishing responses that
also yields an explanation of the geographic variability in strength
of response.
On Jul 8, 2008, at 9:48 AM, Richard Stern wrote:
> Hi,
>
> There's even a book, with the rather amusing title "The Art of
> Pishing" by Pete Dunne, complete with a CD (you can buy it on-line,
> but I saw it a while back in the bookstore in the Greenwood Mall),
> that explains it all - including the art of mimicking Screech Owls
> to attract birds - something tha Fulton is very good at, but I
> wasn't (but at least for me it still doesn't attract birds).
>
> Richard
>
> On Tue, Jul 8, 2008 at 9:28 AM, <joancz@ns.sympatico.ca> wrote:
> Hi, Gayle- To pish is to make a soft "Pisssh!pisssh!" sound through
> your teeth and somewhat puckered lips to attract a bird. I learned
> it from Charlie Allen (CRK Allen, one of the founders of the NS
> Bird Society. Charlie would stay in the car, roll down the window,
> and make very loud "PISH,PISH,PISH" sound, and the birds would
> come. Phyllis Dobson, another founding member, would roll down the
> window on her side of the car and ever so softly, say
> "pish,pish,pish" and the birds would come. However you do it, there
> are several theories why it works- curiosity, territorial defence,
> distraction,etc. And many birds will not come to pishing.Please
> don't go tramping around after a reclusive bird. (Try the next day
> earlier in the morning.)
> There are a few "rules of pishing" I would like to suggest for
> beginners. Others may wish to add or delete:
> Pish ONLY if you are not going to cause stress to the birds;
> Pish only until the bird shows itself;
> Pish on a field trip only if the leader invites you to do so;
> Stand quietly while someone is pishing; keep hands still;
> Pish only if you need to see the bird for ID purposes. Try to learn
> the songs and calls. (I struggle with this) or just wait quietly
> until the bird shows itself.
> Happy birding! Joan
> > From: Gayle MacLean <duartess2003@yahoo.ca>
> > Date: 2008/07/08 Tue AM 05:32:58 EDT
> > To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca
>
> ###################
> Richard Stern,
> 317 Middle Dyke Rd.
> Port Williams, NS, Canada
> B0P 1T0
>
> rbstern@ns.sympatico.ca
> rbstern@xcountry.tv
> sternrichard@gmail.com
> ###################
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<HTML><BODY style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; =
-khtml-line-break: after-white-space; ">Hi all,<DIV><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Funny how things come up; =
this thread on pishing started up just as I was about to thank Bob =
Farmer, a grad student at Dal, for sending me the abstract of a recent =
scientific paper on pishing, which I've pasted below.</DIV><DIV><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>The abstract is well nigh =
unintelligible, but after a couple reads I think they're suggesting =
pishing works because it sounds like the scolding calls given by the =
chickadee family -- calls which many species within the range of that =
family are clued in to.</DIV><DIV><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Cheers,</DIV><DIV>Andy =
Horn</DIV><DIV>Halifax</DIV><DIV><BR =
class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; =
margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Author(s): =
Langham GM (Langham, Gary M.), Contreras TA (Contreras,</DIV><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; ">Thomas A.), Sieving KE (Sieving, Kathryn =
E.)</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; =
margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Source: ECOSCIENCE=A0 =A0 =
Volume: 13=A0 =A0 Issue: 4=A0 =A0 Pages: 485-496</DIV><DIV =
style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; =
margin-left: 0px; ">Published: 2006</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; =
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0 =A0 =A0 References: 55</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; =
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