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Great note. Thanks, Andy. I'll look for the Pete Dunn book, Richard. I love the style in which he writes. Gary, I can see that this play on words could turn into the "One good Tern deserves another" thread we had here a few years ago. Cheers, all! Joan > From: Andrew Horn <aghorn@dal.ca> > Date: 2008/07/08 Tue AM 09:16:26 EDT > To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca > CC: Bob Farmer <farmerb@dal.ca> > Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Re:Note on Pishing > > 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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