Don Baccus wrote:

> Also, most birds simply don't like being looked at. A big camera lens,
> even when everything but the tip of the lenshood itself is enclosed
> in a blind, looks like a great big, reflective eye. Swing that puppy
> over and train it on a bird, and most will begin reacting.

Someone once commented (it might have been on Birdchat, not Tweeters) that
birds recognize eyes and will react in alarm if they see you looking
directly at them. I responded by saying that binoculars must look like
_big_ eyes, so they should produce an especially strong reaction; someone
else said he didn't think so, and when he trained his binoculars on birds
nearby, they didn't especially react. Now Don is taking my point of view.
Does anyone have any experience that would help decide the question? I'll
also point out that the ethologist Irenaus Eibl-Eibesfeldt (yes, that's a
real name, but with an umlaut over the "a" that I can't make) studies
human behavior with a cute camera system that takes pictures at right
angles to the direction the lens seems to be pointing, so people don't
think they're being photographed. People aren't birds, but I sometimes
wonder if a birder could have more success studying birds nearby with such
a system.

Burt Guttman guttmanb at elwha.evergreen.edu
The Evergreen State College Voice: 360-866-6000, x. 6755
Olympia, WA 98505 FAX: 360-866-6794