Re: [NatureNS] Re:Note on Pishing

From: "Gary Murray" <garymurray@ns.sympatico.ca>
To: <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
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Date: Tue, 8 Jul 2008 15:05:21 -0300
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Yes Joan, I can see this play on words could go downhill....fast.

since it is not "P.C.", I thought I might have to run and duck for cover.

cheers,

Gary Murray
Bedford NS
902 832 1727
http://garyamurray.blogspot.com/
http://www.pbase.com/pgns/gmurray
http://www.allcanadaphotos.com/index.cfm?/search_EN

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <joancz@ns.sympatico.ca>
To: <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca>
Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2008 12:22 PM
Subject: Re: Re: [NatureNS] Re:Note on Pishing


> 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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