Use of small owl calls to attract songbirds (1 Viewer)

[Jim M.]

I recently went on a couple of trips led by very knowledgeable, veteran birders, who made heavy use of recordings (or their own imitations) of the calls of small owls to attract small landbirds that come to "scold" the owls. I had run into this occasionally before, but this was the first time I had seen it used fairly systematically. It was also the first time I had seen that the technique can be quite effective in making birds appear from areas that otherwise seem quite birdless.

I was wondering what others thought about the appropriateness of this technique, and how many others use it. The obvious concern is that if used too much, birds would suffer by being repeatedly stressed or diverted from other behaviors important to their survival. But on the other hand, it is conceivable its effects may be insignificant, e.g. it may have no more deleterious effect on birds than when a birder, which a bird likely views as a potential predator, quietly walks through a forest and unintentionally flushes them.

Jim

 

[Robert / Seattle]

Hey Jim,

I just returned from Botswana where the naturalist guides used this technique routinely. They actually played the calls of the specific birds they were attempting to attract, and without fail it worked seamlessly. When asked about the disruption to natural behaviour and the possibility that it might be stress-inducing the guides suggested that such was minimal to non-existent. Their world is full of real life bird calls - and the guides were simply mimicking that world. I'm open to the opposite opinion, but from what I've observed from sensitive and caring birder/naturalists in Africa the technique is as useful as it is benign.

Robert

 

[Jim M.]

Hey Jim,

I just returned from Botswana where the naturalist guides used this technique routinely. They actually played the calls of the specific birds they were attempting to attract, and without fail it worked seamlessly. When asked about the disruption to natural behaviour and the possibility that it might be stress-inducing the guides suggested that such was minimal to non-existent. Their world is full of real life bird calls - and the guides were simply mimicking that world. I'm open to the opposite opinion, but from what I've observed from sensitive and caring birder/naturalists in Africa the technique is as useful as it is benign.

Robert

Thanks Robert. I had been wondering why you had not been posting as much. Sounds like you had a great trip.

But just be clear, I intended this thread to only deal with the use of small owl calls, and not the use of a bird's calls to attract the same species itself. The latter technique raises a number of different issues, is addressed in the ABA code of birding ethics (http://www.americanbirding.org/abaethics.htm), and has been discussed in a number of threads.

Best,
Jim

 

[Andrew Whitehouse]

In southeast Brazil, where I've been for the past two months, there are both Ferruginous and Least Pygmy Owls. Both birds are quite easy to imitate, although recordings sometimes work better. The degree to which they're effective seems to vary quite a lot and I've met some experienced guides who say that they don't work at all, at least in their area. I had the best results in the scrubby dry forests of Minais Gerais, where birds would routinely appear from nowhere when I played Ferruginous Pygmy Owl recordings. In the tall forests of Rio de Janeiro it works less well, if it all. I think the effectiveness is partly due to the height of the trees and where the birds are in them. In tall forest a Pygmy Owl will be way up in the canopy and if you're playing the call from ground level, birds that are up in the canopy don't seem that interested. With shorter, scrubbier forest it seems to work better.

I don't know if it has deleterious effects on birds, but they're not doing anything that they wouldn't be doing when there are real Pygmy Owls around and calling (which they quite often are here in Brazil). Maybe if lots of people were doing it in the same place it might have an effect but otherwise I doubt it. You could also argue that if it makes a lot of birds easier to see then it reduces other kinds of disturbance.

 

[Robert / Seattle]

Thanks Robert. I had been wondering why you had not been posting as much. Sounds like you had a great trip.

But just be clear, I intended this thread to only deal with the use of small owl calls ...
Best,
Jim

Jim

During my 2 1/2 weeks in Botswana I observed that the use of small owl calls invariably attracted small (same species) owls only. There was no apparent attempt at "mobbing" by songbirds.

(And you're right - 'twas a fantastic trip).

Cheers,
Robert

 

[fugl]

I live in Reno, Nevada. I've had good results with Western Screech Owl & Northern Pygmy Owl calls in the spring & summer in the nearby foothills & mountains--sometimes attracting big flocks of agitated warblers, finches, nuthatches, chickadees etc--but only very indifferent success in town at any season. None of the local small owls actually breed in Reno (as far as I know & Western Screech Owl might be an exception) but Northern Saw-whet and Flammulated Owls are of annual occurrence on migration and attract lots of attention from small birds. In fact were it not for the flocks of mobbing passerines, the owls would mostly pass through town unnoticed by birders. This being so, one might expect small birds to be attracted to the playbacks of the calls as well, but as I've said, they don't seem to be. Maybe the answer is that since the owls don't normally vocalize on migration small birds don't "recognize" the calls as anything to be worried about.

 

[jc122463]

Pearl-spotted Owlet calls work wonders over a huge swath of Africa. Not only does it attract the owlet, but a lot of times you get a huge array of other species coming in as well. Obviously this doesn't always work, but overall smaller passerines definitely do respond.

 

[Birdingcraft]

Although this technique works in attracting birds and I admit I have used it in the past, I honestly don't think its very ethical. It incites a mobbing response in small bids which certainly attributes to valuable energy loss. If the birds in question are migrating, then the energy loss could even end up being fatal. If one is going to do this, I think they should keep that in mind and limit the extent to which they distress the birds they want to see. Why not wait for the birds to mob something that is actually there?

 

[fugl]

Although this technique works in attracting birds and I admit I have used it in the past, I honestly don't think its very ethical. It incites a mobbing response in small bids which certainly attributes to valuable energy loss. If the birds in question are migrating, then the energy loss could even end up being fatal. If one is going to do this, I think they should keep that in mind and limit the extent to which they distress the birds they want to see. Why not wait for the birds to mob something that is actually there?

To the best of my knowledge (correct me if I'm wrong) the argument that artificially induced mobbing puts undue stress on small birds is the rankest speculation with little or no empirical evidence in support. As far as the contention that migrants are particularly vulnerable to such stress is concerned, the finding of at least one study was that migrants normally don't engage in mobbing, but only the local residents. And even if this were not so, it's hard to believe that a starving bird--resident or migrant--would neglect vital life activities because of a few owl hoots.

 

[Rasmus Boegh]

To the best of my knowledge (correct me if I'm wrong) the argument that artificially induced mobbing puts undue stress on small birds is the rankest speculation with little or no empirical evidence in support.

The problem is that the opposite view is completely speculative, too, with no empirical evidence in support. So, we're standing with two opposites, neither supported. I've used imitations of owls to attract birds, but view it as any use of vocalizations to attract birds - in most cases probably harmless if done to a limited extend, but likely problematic if done for a longer period and/or done very often at a specific location. Unless having a very good reason (scientific work or alike), the use of owl vocalizations to attract endagered species should be discouraged entirely IMO, as the risk - real or not - that it may cause harm just isn't worth taking (and that applies to "normal" play-back for attracting endagered species, too).

 

[fugl]

The problem is that the opposite view is completely speculative, too, with no empirical evidence in support. So, we're standing with two opposites, neither supported. I've used imitations of owls to attract birds, but view it as any use of vocalizations to attract birds - in most cases probably harmless if done to a limited extend, but likely problematic if done for a longer period and/or done very often at a specific location. Unless having a very good reason (scientific work or alike), the use of owl vocalizations to attract endagered species should be discouraged entirely IMO, as the risk - real or not - that it may cause harm just isn't worth taking (and that applies to "normal" play-back for attracting endagered species, too).

My point exactly: we don't know the effects of owl calls on small birds so there is no basis for pontifications on either side of the question. So, what to do? My opinion, for what it's worth, is that moderate use of owl calls to lure small birds into the open is unlikely to cause any great harm. Obviously endangered species are a special case and should be spared unnecessary disturbance of any kind.

 

[Jos Stratford]

My point exactly: we don't know the effects of owl calls on small birds so there is no basis for pontifications on either side of the question. So, what to do?

If effects are unknown, would it not be better to just err on the side of caution.


Other than it seems a rather lazy approach to birding in the case of most species, I would go with Rasmus that no playback should be used on endangered species, nor on individual birds where repeated playback by successive visiting birders is ikely to be an issue.

Clearly this is likely to be a lesser issue if you are using a tape on your local patch, etc, but for example the most well-known sites for Cinnamon-breasted Warbler and Knysna Warblers in South Africa have endured playback by countless visiting birders and birders are now urged to refrain from using playback at these sites due to fears of undue disturbance.

 

[fugl]

If effects are unknown, would it not be better to just err on the side of caution..

Yes, but that's the question, isn't it, how seriously to take the possibility of harm when there's no evidence one way or the other? Personally, with the exceptions noted below, I don't take it too seriously, but others obviously do, and that is probably where the matter will have to be left.

I would go with Rasmus that no playback should be used on endangered species, nor on individual birds where repeated playback by successive visiting birders is ikely to be an issue...

Me too.

Clearly this is likely to be a lesser issue if you are using a tape on your local patch, etc, but for example the most well-known sites for Cinnamon-breasted Warbler and Knysna Warblers in South Africa have endured playback by countless visiting birders and birders are now urged to refrain from using playback at these sites due to fears of undue disturbance.

There are also places in the States where playbacks are banned--rightly IMO--for this reason.

 

[ovenbird43]

In my experience, using small owl calls to lure in songbirds is about the same as "pishing" in terms of success- sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I can't whistle for crap, and I don't carry a tape player (or equivalent), so when I do anything I use pishing.

As far as the ethics of this, I don't have much to add to what has been said. It is probably no more or less stressful than pishing, since pishing is supposed to imitate the scolding alarm calls of various species. As others have said, the biggest areas of concern are endangered species and public areas where there are a lot of birders constantly using various means to lure in birds. If we were all pure conservationists we would always err on the side of caution and not use anything to lure in songbirds... but I, for one, do sometimes try to get that darn warbler to come down from the canopy a bit. Each person has their own balance between what they think is best for the birds and how badly they want a good look- but we can't easily measure what the true effects are.