![]() Playback reduces the need to physically enter the bird’s habitat, and therefore (presumably) reduces damage to the habitat and disturbance to the birds.Birding disturbs birds, and there are times when playback might offer a less disruptive way of seeing a bird: We are bird-watchers, and watching birds almost always involves some form of disturbance. Playback will arouse the curiosity of any species at any time of year, but the response is most dramatic from a territorial bird in breeding season, and weakest from non-territorial birds such as migrants. For her part, sometimes the female will approach the recording to assess the “new guy” and may even solicit some attention. The territorial male will then (ideally) come out to confront the intruder by patrolling the edge of its territory and singing, or it may stay silent and close to its mate to guard against an adulterer. Playback works best on territorial species during their nesting season, when the real bird thinks the recording is a rival threatening to encroach on either its territory or its mate. Do not broadcast loud or continuous sound. Keep the volume low, and use only occasional snippets of sound.No surprises – Announce your intention to play a recording, and hold the device above your shoulder while it plays (to avoid any confusion or false alarms).To minimize disturbance to other birders: be subtle – you are trying to tease the bird into the open, not stir up a fight.play snippets of sound – less than 30 seconds at a time, then a long pause before the next snippet (more silence than playback) and after five minutes or so give it a rest (but stay alert).have a plan – choose your spot and know your quarry, don’t just play sounds.To be most effective and to minimize disturbance to the birds: #Northern cardinal sound on birdclock how to#Where and how to use it in other situations is up the individual birder. Any potential negative impacts of playback are more likely to occur in areas with a lot of birding pressure, so avoiding playback entirely in those places is a good idea. It is also illegal to disturb any endangered or threatened species (and playback can be interpreted as disturbance). Summaryįirst, it is important to point out that the use of playback is prohibited in many parks and refuges. Below I focus on suggesting some best practices to allow birders to enjoy the birds while minimizing the impact of playback, on birds and on other birders. In this post I assume that it will be used, and that it is just one of many birding activities that should be practiced with sensitivity. Most of the debate about playback has focused on a polarizing question: Is playback ethical, or not? With no concrete evidence supporting either side it remains unresolved. In some situations playback can be less disruptive than other methods of attracting birds, at times even less disruptive than sitting quietly and waiting for a bird to show. A total ban on playback (as some advocate) should equally include a total ban on pishing and mimicking bird calls. Everything that we do has an impact on birds. Whether this trickery has any significant impact on the birds is not so clear.įundamentally, birding disturbs birds. Birds that might otherwise be too shy to come into the open can be lured into view by the sound of a potential rival. There is no debate that playback (playing a recording of a bird’s song) is one of the most powerful tools in a birder’s struggle to see birds in the wild. This has fueled an ongoing debate among birders about the ethical issues surrounding the use of recorded bird songs in the field. With the recent surge in the availability of digital audio devices, the use of playback to attract birds into view has increased exponentially. A Korean translation of this post is here Swainson's Warbler, an uncommon and elusive species often subject to playback efforts by birders. ![]()
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