A Technique That Increases Detectability Of Passerine Species During Point Counts

During April-July 1997, we censused birds in three woodlands near Arnprior, Ontario, Canada using conventional point counts (n = 12) and point counts supplemented with 'pishinga (n = 12), a well-known method for attracting various bird species. Overall, 3.6 (19%) more species were detected per census using pishing. Irrespective of statistical significance of individual species, 45 (74%) of the 61 species were detected on more days using pishing, whereas 5 (8%) species were detected on more days using the conventional method. A higher number of males and a higher number of visually detected species were recorded using pishing as compared to the conventional method, and these differences did not change with date. Pishing did not affect number of females detected nor number of species aurally detected. More individuals were detected using pishing as opposed to the conventional method, but the difference declined with date. Overall, 0.8 fewer unidentified individuals per census were recorded using pishing. Our results indicate that pishing in conjunction with conventional point count methods increases detectability and positive visual identification of passerine species in woodlands.