Bird Calls: To play or not to play
Cut that call: Ethics and Misuse of Artificial Birdcalls This piece finds place on Round Glass here Thanks are due to the team at Round Glass A few years ago, I was in Nagaland working on a community conservation project in the Mokokchung- Zunheboto area. In addition to project work, other members of the team and I would go on birdwatching walks at dawn, braving the early morning chill for sightings of grey sibia and mountain bamboo partridge. On one of these walks, I remember one of my companions playing the call of the Naga wren babbler ( Spelaeornis chocolatinus ) for so long that the poor bird came and sat on the blessed phone. When I asked him if this was wise, he argued that he was one of the more serious bird watchers in the country, and could tell that the bird was not disturbed. I asked what would happen if people from the surrounding landscape (including those who hunt) picked up this practice, but he was confident that they could not. The basis for thi...