Subject: Re: pishing
Date: Feb 10 12:25:49 1995
From: Dennis Paulson - dpaulson at ups.edu


>Dennis et al:
>
>I'm enjoying the discussion regarding "pishing", but I was wondering if you
>could describe for me (a beginning birder) what exactly you do to "pish".
>
>Thanks much,
>
>Susan Collicott susan at pmel.noaa.gov
>Computer Services, NOAA PMEL http://www.pmel.noaa.gov
>Seattle, WA (206) 526-6755

Susan, it's hard to describe (I hope several people try).

I hold my lips together and purse my mouth slightly, then say "psshhh"
somewhat explosively. You can shorten or lengthen the psshhh. I run them
together: "psshhhpsshhhpsshhhpsshhhpsshhh" for a while, rather than
separate "psshh"s. The louder you do it, the farther away birds will hear
it, and the more will come; I'm pretty certain about that. Some people are
soft pishers, and that works fine at close range. Pishing definitely takes
your breath away eventually, which is why I like pygmy-owl calls better;
but the latter aren't effective in some habitats.

A great way to use this in the winter is to drive down a narrow back road
with woodland or shrubbery on one or both sides and sit in your car with
open window and pish. Some of the birds come so close you worry about them
coming in the window; I imagine they don't see you as a human when you're
in the car. Alternatively, stop somewhere while you're walking, remain
still, and just do it.

It's least effective when you're in a group of birders, because someone is
always fidgeting or making noise, and that makes the birds keep their
distance; but even then I've had birds come in. Birds become
pish-refractory, eventually going away ("hmph, there's no predator here"),
and I don't think they will respond to it for some time thereafter (but
have no idea how long).

Dennis Paulson phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416