During the next three weeks, if you see small knots of folks peering through binoculars and uttering strange pish, pish, pish sounds, don't be alarmed. They most likely are birders conducting the 119th annual Audubon Christmas Bird Counts (CBCs), which began this weekend and continue through Jan. 5.
Simply put, pishing is a technique used by bird watchers to draw small birds — titmice, chickadees, kinglets, finches, sparrows, nuthatches and others — into the open to get closer looks at them.
It's called pishing because, basically, you just say: "Pish! Pish! Pish." The pish, though, must be drawn out, like you're shushing someone — "shhhhh" — in the library.
The reason pishing works, say bird experts, is that it sounds like a bird scolding another bird or a predator. Other birds then come out from their hiding places to see what the fuss is about.
Pishing and other bird-luring techniques, though, should be used responsibly, the experts say. Over-use of the techniques may cause undue stress in birds and deplete their crucial body energy, which they need for nesting, finding food, staying warm and escaping from predators.
At least 25 Christmas Bird Counts are scheduled across Georgia this season. Five are in the metro Atlanta area — Marietta, Peachtree City, Roswell, Amicalola Falls and Intown Atlanta — and will be led by Atlanta Audubon Society members. A complete lineup is at www.gos.org.
In each count, birders fan out in a 15-mile-diameter circle and scour woods and fields, lakes and ponds, swamps and marshes, neighborhood parks, city sidewalks and even front yards for birds.
CBCs provide a huge pool of data to help scientists gauge the status of birds and the health of the planet. So, if you see some pishing bird watchers during the next few weeks, please give them a friendly hello.
IN THE SKY: From David Dundee, Tellus Science Museum astronomer:
Winter officially begins at 5:23 p.m. on Friday — the shortest day of the year. After Friday, the days will gradually grow longer.
The Geminid meteor shower continues through this weekend — in the eastern sky after dark. The moon is in first quarter tonight. Mercury and bright-shining Venus are low in the east just before sunrise. Mars is low in the southwest at dusk.
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