This business about eye contact with birds has intrigued me for some time
because of the implications for birding methods. Over a year ago, Byron
K. Butler (at Yale, I think) sent a message about techniques of distance
closing while birding, and he made some particular points about looking
directly at birds: "A bird that isn't continually predator-wary is lunch
before sundown. Thus, they are adapted to noticing which eyes are on
them. Birds read eyes; when they are looking at you they are looking at
your eyes first." These recent messages on tweeters suggest that this is
true and that birds are very much aware of eyes. But what do we do while
birding? We look directly at birds, some of us through eyeglasses (BIG
eyes to a bird) and then put binoculars up to our faces, which must look
like HUGE eyes. The ethologist Eibl-Eibesfeldt has studied human
behavior with a camera and mirror arrangement; the camera seems to be
pointed in one direction, but it is actually taking pictures to the side,
focussed on people who think he isn't paying attention to them. Would we
be more successful with a similar arrangement for binoculars? Has anyone
tried anything like that?

Burt Guttman guttmanb at elwha.evergreen.edu
The Evergreen State College Voice: 206-866-6000, x. 6755
Olympia, WA 98505 FAX: 206-866-6794