Maureen Ellis wrote:

> Makes me feel a little guilty about trying to "pish-attract"
> small birds just to see them better.

"Pishing" is similar to the alarm calls that small birds make,
certainly Old World warblers and tits make when alarmed. Sylvidae
warblers most often make the sound when being handled for banding.
The birds presumably respond to this type of call as it sounds like
one of their "kin" being eaten - NOT during banding, I find aluminum
gives me indigestion :-O. So you were probably doing the birds a
favour by making them more alert.

Incidently, I met a professor from one a college in Minnesota who
thought that "pishing" only worked on New World species, and
referred to papers claiming that this was the case. A lot of birders
I know in the UK use it with great success - Arctic warblers "love"
it (first mainland record for Scotland, YESSSSS - Wick, Caithness,
7 Sep 1977). Any thoughts/references, Dennis ;-)


Stuart MacKay