Hi Steve,
Your problem is one many of us share. Knowing where the target bird is and
when it will be vocalizing is the 64 dollar question and experience, yours
or that of others, is an invaluable tool.
I often feel that luck has quite a bit to do with it and I seem to have
gotten lucky on many occasions. But persistence is probably the biggest
single factor.
I definitely share your feelings regarding playback, especially with
threatened species such as the cuckoo.
As far as Cuckoos go, Yellow-billed that is, I have gotten lucky twice as
you can see from our Reference Library documentation. The first was on July
7'th and the second July 14'th. I SUSPECT that they are less likely to
vocalize once they start nesting, but this is only a hunch. I don't have
any good information as to when they first arrive but late June to early
July is probably close.
I would really like to see more discussion on where and when to find
vocalizing bird. The reference Library has a good start as the 700 or so
recordings give location, date and time of most recordings.
Good luck on the Black-billed Cuckoo,
Jim
At 01:59 PM 2/26/02 -0500, you wrote:
>Dear Everyone:
>
>As a diversion from discussion of technical things, I'd like to request
>suggestions/discussion about technique.
>
>The problem I'm interested in is getting recordings of birds that
>are frequently quiet for long periods and seem to sing only once or
>twice from a single location. Main example: Cuckoos.
>
>I've managed to get rather poor recordings of cuckoos when one happens
>to call in front of my microphone, but have had very little luck
>following/stalking the birds. And, when I've "staked out" (from a decent
>distance) the few nests I've discovered, it seems the birds were
>generally silent near their nest. I suspect my problem is partly a lack
>of understanding of the details of cuckoo behavior, but others might
>well have worked out useful approaches.
>
>So, in anticipation of the coming spring, I'd be glad to have your
>suggestions about what to do in such a situation --- short of using
>about X+1 miles of tape or playback.
>
>Thanks!
>
>Steve Pelikan
>
>
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