[Tweeters] Colors - was Re: Birding and Hunting at Wiley

[via Tweeters]

  Hi,

  Kim mentioned using a brightly colored hat.  I'm supporting that and will 
even go so far as to state that my experience is that birds, in general,
pay attention to the following in terms of being disturbed/flushing (in 
order of importance):

  Movement - especially movement in their directiion/more in their
direction than not.  This means that if you can move perpendicular to
their location they will OFTEN pay no attention to you.  And the
larger the relative size of the movement the more they pay attention
(when we are farther away we take up less of the space).  And the
speed of the movement matters - for instance if you raise your arm
up very slowly it won't be noticed nearly as much as if you raise it
quickly.

  Proximity - each bird species has a 'you're too close' meter.  In 
general the smaller the bird the closer it will let you get before it
notices/flushes.  I even have a simple to apply general rule for
"how close" - actually it is more of a "relative measure" - if you
have a camera with a particular lens ... the size of the bird in
the viewfinder will be about the same no matter what species
or individual.

  Color - birds are pretty much "color blind" in terms of how close
you can get to them.  Camouflage clothing does help - but not 
nearly as much as we are told it does.

  Sound - most birds pay -very- little attention to any sounds we
might make.  This includes talking, talking loudly, and even the
occasional clunk when we do something like step on a board or
our camera hits our belt buckle.

  Lastly - individual birds can and do have very different sensitivities
with respect to the above guidelines.  For example - certain of the
Short-eared Owls at the East 90 are much more likely to get - and
stay - much close to you than others.

                                ****

  Netting the above out - you can move closer, but moving directly
towards a bird/flock is much more likely to be noticed and acted
upon.  You can easily talk to each other without the birds noticing, 
and whispering is not required.  When you are close to the
critical distance - any movement is 'exaggerated' with respect to
how likely the bird is to notice/flush.  If you can position yourself
(move to a location) that a bird will later come near - and you
sit/stand relatively motionless ... the bird(s) will "come to you".

  Again - these are my observations/experiences.  However, I have
many individual situations that have built up into the above.

                                  - Jim in Skagit County
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