WayneT Loc: Paris, TN

When I'm out birding and there's a hawk within a mile of where I am I can't find birds. That's how I know to look for hawks or owls. They know much quicker than I do when there are predators around.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

LoneRangeFinder Loc: Left field

Gotta love those whose knee jerk response is to assign all perceived negatives to the "other guys". Sheesh.

russelray Loc: La Mesa CA

I have spent 50 years observing and photographing birds. The only large predators who unnecessarily threaten birds with baiting sounds and food are human hunters. I have heard and seen mockingbirds bait with sound and actions, and mommy birds will bait with actions to make a threat follow her away from her nest, but I have never seen or heard of Red-Tailed, Cooper's and Sharp-Shinned Hawks, Peregrines, Kestrels, and Crows using baiting sounds and food to expose birds to larger predators. Interesting.

mrpentaxk5ii

I would think that if a bird has a problem with what is going down in the wood, he would leave rather than check out what the problem is.

joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois

Absurd.

UXOEOD

Sir, too often the terms "horse-sense" or "common-sense" are little more than a weak-knee method of calling individuals who either don't agree, or don't understand foolish, dumb, or trying to intimidate those individuals not to question. I, Sir, am neither a fool or intimated. Please, explain how me "baiting" the sapsucker in for a photograph placed the bird in any danger? No predator was working in cooperation with me. And my tap tap tapping would not have attraction any more predators than his tapping would have.

Does you concern over baiting birds include backyard bird feeders and birdbaths as well?

Please, I honestly don't understand your logic. I trust you are articulate enough to explain without feeling the need to argue or insulate I am incapable of understanding you.

Thanks in advance.

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

A stupid, jealous birder. Many birders will call in birds by imitating the calls. If a bird chooses to respond, how does that stress the bird.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

You are correct, but I think I may have been unclear. Humans baiting birds expose them to predators. I have watched Cooper's Hawks lurking in the trees while humans feed the small birds when the ground is frozen or snow covered. It was like a buffet. This past March we had a huge number of Woodcocks fall in from the noreaster that hit NYC. Hundreds of birds were seen around Central Park, Roversize Park, and other parks that had their habitat - water and fallen leaves. But a Woodcock stands out against a snowy backdrop. Soon the Hawks realized that these birds were weakened from flying through a big storm, and not getting any food. Humans began to interfere, feeding the weakened birds, in essence fattening them up for the hawks. Over a period of three days, hundreds of Woodcocks became hawk-fodder, thanks to the well-meaning human feeders.

As you probably know, it's best to not interfere with nature.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Don't have the time or energy to debate this - your mind seems made up. I do suggest you consider joining your local Audubon chapter to better understand their perspective, or read this:

http://www.audubon.org/get-outside/audubons-guide-ethical-bird-photography

If a bird responds to your tapping it thinks you are a bird, and gets confused when it sees you and not another bird. That is stressful. But gaging from your response, I'm going to guess that you would not have the experience to recognize this.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

And they are looked down upon for that.

martinfisherphoto Loc: Lake Placid Florida

WTF: Dude, please tap, tap, tap away. Smart thinking on your part.... My last trip out to photograph birds I traveled over 75 miles one way with a gas hog burning vehicle.. Not to mention the power draining trolling motor that discharged two 12 volt batteries. Not to mention the plastics and god knows what else elements in my equipment that will eventually end up in a landfill near my back yard. I could carry on for several more minutes if you want me too. Here's another little trick that I have seen Professional Birders, Guides and Photographers use. With your smart phone you can pull up song bird programs that will help draw birds within photographing distance. Please continue enjoying your Hobbie that does not involve killing your subject......

mcveed Loc: Kelowna, British Columbia (between trips)

You have to decide for yourself whether your means of attracting the woodpecker is unethical. In one sense anything you do that causes the bird to act in an unnatural way is potentially harmful. Woodpeckers do not tap on trees to communicate with other woodpeckers - they do it to extract insects to eat. The woodpecker did not think you were another woodpecker trying to communicate, it thought you were another woodpecker eating bugs. So, perhaps the tree he was tapping on was not producing any bugs so he flew over to you in hopes of finding a better tree. Did you harm the bird? - probably not. Would the bird be harmed if there were a bunch of people in the woods tapping on trees? - probably. The way to determine if an act is moral, immoral or amoral is to answer the question "Would the world be better off if everybody did it?"

Jim Bob

I think you should tell him/her to kiss your ass.

BHC Loc: Strawberry Valley, JF, USA

Why?

Enough of this BS! I have volunteered as a docent at a local wildlife area. I have often seen employees and the leaders of the Audubon Society use sound to locate birds. One of the guides has a talent for imitating just about every bird in the area. She does NOT "bait" the birds with her calls. She will call once or twice and wait for a response, at which time she will go look for the bird. She doesn't want the bird to come to her; she wants to find the bird in its natural habitat. If any hawks are spotted in the trees, they usually become the objects of study. The most common hawk, the marsh hawk (aka Northern Harrier) ignores healthy birds in lieu of voles and other rodents. Feeding the wild animals is a Federal offense. On the other hand, the area has a contract with tenant rice farmers to leave a portion of the harvested rice in areas to lure geese as they travel down the Pacific flyway. The rice is left in open fields, and geese post sentries. There are no animals in the area that are crazy enough to take on a full grown snow or Canada goose - and the areas are miles from the small area opened to hunting every year. I once spent several hours "baby-sitting" a juvenile Bittern, until I could reach a ranger, who picked up the bird and took it to a protected brood colony. Yeah, the hawks wanted it; they were circling, but would not attack with a human present. The bird was healthy, but young and very disoriented. I named it Angus (Angostura Bittern, only old-fashioned cocktail drinkers will understand). And yes, once the story got our, the prissy self-righteous birder bitches criticized me for "interfering with the natural process"; they are also the ones that wanted a red-tailed hawk shot when it killed a feral kitten. Hypocrites!