Hi. I am new here and if this has already been discussed I am sorry for repeating it.
I have had some success luring birds into an area, where I am trying to photograph them, by playing a CD of their calls outside. It has worked with Western Yellow Robins, Red-Capped Robins and Grey Shrike Thrushes. They obviously come in to see who is in their territory, but usually dont get fooled long.
It you make short kissing/squeeking sounds with your lips you can lure in a lot of small birds like wrens, fantails etc. You can also buy a small wooden(used to be anyway) gadget that makes a similar noise and your lips don't get sore.
See Yez
Trev
Did you stop to think daggert you were placing the bird in danger luring it into the open?
In a flash a predator could capture it
I am not bringing them out in the open as such. The area where I do this is in an area where they frequent anyway, I just increase my chances of them coming my way earlier. The birds are not stupid and do not approach me close up, just stay hiding in the bushes to get a closer look.
We have just got a tablet and got the bird book online and sit by the roadside and play the bird calls on the tablet. The birds just come in to the calls. Once in, we toss out a few mealworms for the insect eaters or some cheese crumbs for things like wrens.
Otherwise, a mirror on the ground, dig a hole and line with plastic and put some water in it.
Or do what my wife did. Walk out of hospital after a night shift, find a freshly dead Willie Wagtail, prop it up in a tree and take a photo and win a competion!
Peter
Most of us would have read the Guidelines for birding. But it can't hurt to have another look at them? Here is the link:
http://birdlife.org.au/documents/POL-Ethical-Birding-Guidelines.pdf
My personal view , it is not fair or ethical to lure any animal by deception to come closer and pose for photos, simply for your own gratification. Depending on what kinds of calls you use, such as mating calls , warning calls or begging calls, you can confuse or cause a lot of stress and anxiety to the birds. To me, this is not ethical.
(as I said, this is my opinion)
M-L
I support your comments, Araminta. When we intervene in the lives of birds I believe the most important question I can ask is For whom am I doing what I'm doing? If it's for the preservation of the species then all is good. If it's solely my own gratification then all is not good. If both the species & I benefit then that's a bonus.
This is a perfect example of how someone can join this forum and create havoc simply to express the views ( in the Cat thread) on a subject that they know will be contentious , while in the same breath using unethical means like this to bring birds in for their own pleasure. We need to bring the focus back to birds , and I agree with ML here on this issue.. ( for once
)
.
Sunshine Coast Queensland