Tweets, in Spain my "pish"ing was cause of amusement (irritation?) among the
local experts, commenting that Americans don't seem to realize the strategy
doesn't work in Europe. Now that they mention it, this is largely true -the
response was usually negligible. (I was slow to catch on.) I didn't try
Gary's ploy (he's hilarious!), though Andalucia can be quite arid so it
would have been an interesting experiment. In the forest I did once try a
pygmy owl toot (imitates Scops Owl) and drew in a curious Chaffinch. So
along with the question why pishing can be effective, the other question:
why is it NOT effective (eg with European passerines, and elsewhere now that
I think about it (Hawaii, West Africa))? Perhaps if I read Pete Dunne's
book... Good birding!
--Paul Hicks / phicks AT accessgrace.org
------------
From: Gary Bletsch <garybletsch AT yahoo.com>
Date: Sat, 11 Dec 2010 22:35:38 -0800 (PST)

Yes, pishing really helps bring out the birds. I tend to pish a lot, and use
a lot of pygmy-owl whistles and other owl whistles, too, to get the little
birds to show themselves. A number of years ago, I figured out another trick
that would sometimes bring forth the shy passerines. It has a name that
sounds quite a bit like the word "pishing," with only one letter's
difference. When I used to live in Saudi Arabia, once in a while I would
pause in my desert birding to relieve myself. Not every time, but sometimes,
little passerines would come zipping over as soon as the desert silence was
broken by the sound of liquid tinkling onto stone. I reckon it was just
their quick reaction to the possibility of a drink in that terribly dry
environment. This trick seems to have absolutely no bird-attracting effect
here in sponge-wet Western Washington. Yours truly,


Gary Bletsch garybletsch AT yahoo.com


--------------


There's a discussion going on now on the Oregon equivalent to Tweeters about
how to do pishing and why it can sometimes be very effective in making more
birds reveal themselves. I thought it would be interesting to share some of
this information for those of you who'd like to learn more. I personally am
incorporating pishing into my repertoire in appropriate situations, and have
found that it can be quite effective, but I have a lot of refining to do for
my technique!





Mike Patterson on pishing, including a recording of some of his repertoire
of sounds:


http://www.surfbirds.com/blog/northcoastdiaries/17948/






David Fix's very interesting post:


http://www.birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/OBOL.html#1292097307





I also have read the book "The Art of Pishing" by widely known author Pete
Dunne, and I would highly recommend reading this book for those who want to
learn even more (I got it from my local library, but of course one could
purchase it thru the usual retailers). Included in this book is an
instructional CD and a very nice discussion on ethical considerations for
pishing.


Good birding,


Evan Houston


Seattle, WA