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Re: A bird's response to ATRAC

Subject: Re: A bird's response to ATRAC
From: Walter Knapp <>
Date: Wed, 21 Jul 2004 16:11:57 -0400
From: "Kevin J. Colver" <>

> 
> Walt,
> Yes this type of sound, a broad band sound, can mimic the ground-based
> predator alarm calls of a host of birds and other small creatures such
> as squirrels and even our Mormon crickets here in Utah.  Birders "pish"
> to create a similar effect.  A broad band sound is easy to localize for
> a listener, quickly attracting the attention of other small creatures to
> alert them to the presence of a relatively slow or stationary danger
> such as a perched owl or a cat.

I'd forgot about pishing, don't even need anything extra. I use pishing. 
And not just on birds.

> The alarm to warn of an aerial predator such as a sharp-shinned hawk on
> the other hand needs to warn others of danger without revealing the
> location of the whistle blower.  Many species use a very high frequency
> thin zeeeeeeeeeet call for this purpose, heard, but hard to localize.  I
> have heard this sound on a few occasions (an American Robin in my yard
> and a Sage thrasher in the sage desert), only to quickly look up and see
> a Coopers or Sharp shinned hawk cruise by.  It is so fleeting and rare
> that I have never captured it on tape.  If one of you do record this
> call, prize the catch.

I hear that call a lot here. We have a pair of redtails that nest in the 
back woods, and the youngsters learn their craft in our front field. 
They are going through those amusing antics right now. We also have 
other birds of prey passing through.

Yes, it is unpredictable when it will occur. I heard it one day, and 
moments later a bird was taken off one of the perches of the birdfeeder 
right in front of me. Boy did I hear it right after that. The feeder 
birds were jumpy for days, but there was no repeat of the incident.

Walt






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