Judie Peet and Colin Reid have both asked if the use of bird squeakers would
be the same, in effect, as using bird tapes. I guess the squeakers are not
targeting a particular species, so a bird would be unlikely to actually
vacate its territory. Bird squeakers seem to imitate the sounds of a group
of smaller birds as they 'dizz' an intruder. On occasions I have been
standing quietly observing, (not squeaking), and a Brown Thornbill or a
White-browed Scrubwren might spot me and begin to 'dizz', which would then
cause other small birds to emerge and join in the 'dizzing', which is
usually very short-lived. So the effect of squeaking, in my view, would
have less impact than the playing of tapes, but it would certainly have some
impact, and my instincts say "don't use it".
A ranger in Central Australia once told me he had been squeaking with no
success, in an attempt to get birds to come closer. So he paused in his
activities to blow his nose rather vigorously and extendedly; he happened to
be half-obscured in a witchetty bush at the time. He said that this
nose-blowing sound, and the fact that he was obscured from sight, caused any
number of birds to come and investigate!
Vicki Powys
Capertee Valley NSW
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