ATTRACTING BIRDS
Good bird photos require getting close to birds. How can you get close without causing harm?
Exploring nature, especially with a pair of binoculars, can result in many nice experiences in a single day. The combination of distances, light conditions, backgrounds, surroundings, and the surprise of the unexpected usually prevents you from recording what you’ve experienced and sharing it with others.
If you want to produce technically flawless and visually appealing images of the phenomena and events you witness, you should try to predict what is going to happen in front of your lens. Predicting gets easier when you can attract your subjects to within a good range and also to a location of your choice. There are some ways to accomplish those goals, but attracting birds must not harm them, nor should it cause action that would not have happened in an unstimulated situation.
Study your subjects well before going out into the field with you camera, and learn about their biology and behavior so you don’t harm the environment or the animals in it. Understanding bird behavior gives you an indispensable edge in the field when you are trying to predict birds’ reactions to your attempts to attract them, and especially when you evaluate if your actions pose any risks to them.
Perching Branches
Birds like to perch on branches. Place a good perch in an area where birds would come anyway. Waterbirds, for example, are fond of snags or tree trunks sticking out of the water or floating along where they can sit in relative safety and preen their plumage. In steppes or other vast, open areas, where there is a shortage of prominent vantage points, even a small twig stuck in the ground may soon become a favorite perch for birds. Branches jutting out of bushes or reed beds are also frequented for perching purposes. Birds use them as vantage points to keep watch on their environment and to make their calls heard as far as possible.
Islands
You can build a small island on a pond or a lake, near a blind that you have placed on the shore. Birds may discover that your island is a good place to rest, or if it is large enough they may even nest on it. An island provides safety against most terrestrial predators and offers birds an excellent opportunity to keep an eye on their surroundings.
Red-footed Falcons mating on a perch placed above their nest box that was erected just two weeks before their arrival (Falco vespertinus)
Nikon D300, 300mm f/2.8, 1/1000 second, f/2.8, ISO 640, manual focus, Gitzo tripod and video head, blind. Hungary, May 2008.
Nests
Some species build their own nest holes, but mostly birds nest in existing holes and crevices, and housing shortage is a constant problem in the bird world. Most birds are happy to nest in humanmade nest boxes, which benefits both birds and bird photographers. Hundreds of bird species ranging from small sparrows to large owls breed in artificial boxes worldwide. Instructions on how to build the many different types of nest boxes can be found on the Internet. Take every possible precaution when photographing near nests after the birds have started breeding because they are extremely vulnerable to disturbances during the breeding season. The use of a blind is always recommended. You can read more about the topic in the chapter “Photographing at Nests.”
Disturbances at the nest can be very harmful to birds, so any activity in the vicinity of the nest must be carried out with extreme precaution.
Eurasian Kestrel arriving to a nest box fitted to the side of a tower blind (Falco tinnunculus). It’s bringing a Sand Lizard to its young.
Nikon D200, 300mm f/2.8, 1/1250 second, f/2.8, ISO 400, continuous focus, Gitzo tripod and video head, blind. Pusztaszer, Hungary, June 2007.
A Dalmatian Pelican scoops a pouchful of vegetation for nest building purposes (Pelecanus crispus)
Nikon D200, Sigma 300–800mm f/5.6, 1/400 second, 440mm, f/7.1, ISO 400, manual focus, Gitzo tripod and video head, blind. Romania, April 2007
Nest Material
If you know when different bird species start gathering nest material and what they’re looking for, you can attract them by bringing suitable material to a spot you think is good for photographing them. When the birds come, they reward your efforts with good photo opportunities. Small downy feathers are especially sought after among many species; starlings and tits are quick to spot light and colorful feathers. Golden Orioles like pieces of hemp string, which you can coil on branches. Any pile of dry reed stems on a rock jutting out of the water can cause skirmishes among waterbirds as they fight over who gets to take them to their nest.
Decoys
Waterbirds tend to find safety in numbers, and sometimes you can use this instinct to attract a wary waterbird closer to your blind by placing a decoy near it. Your decoy does not have to be an exact replica as long as the main features are right. Decoys can be purchased, or you can make one from wood or plastic. I have used decoys successfully in photographing shy geese, ducks, European Green Woodpeckers, Bluethroats, Common Cuckoos, egrets, and herons. I have heard that decoys also work well with cranes and bustards.
Decoys sometimes work surprisingly well. Here a young Red-flanked Bluetail male is observing a wooden imitation of an old male (Tarsiger cyanurus). Decoys can also be made of plastic.
Canon EOS-1v, 500mm f/4.0 plus 1.4x extender, 1/200 second, f/8.0, Fuji Provia ISO 100, Manfrotto tripod, Manfrotto 501 video head. Kuusamo, Finland, June 2000.
This image of a singing Bluethroat was taken from a car (Luscinia svecica). A recording of its song was used to attract it.
Canon EOS-1Ds Mark II, 500mm f/4.0 plus 1.4x extender, 1/320 second, f/5.6, ISO 320, one-shot focus with a central focusing point, beanbag, car as a blind. Utsjoki, Finland, June 2006.
Playback of Bird Calls
Almost every bird species will react to luring with bird songs and calls, provided that the right sound is played at the right time, in the right place, and at the right volume. The birds’ interest is often piqued by playback because they assume a sexually aroused mate has turned up and they don’t want to refuse it, or because they want to drive out an intruder from their territory. Bird calls should be played in moderation because overuse can have the opposite result—your subject grows bored and disappears. Turn off your device when your subject arrives, and never play the same bird call more than two or three times.
You can also use a bird whistle or mimic their calls. A partridge whistle, for example, works better than a recorded voice, and a Black Woodpecker can be attracted quite easily by whistling its contact call. And most small birds come to take a closer look at a hissing photographer. It’s up to you to practice and experiment! A small MP3 player and a loudspeaker work best, but you can use a CD player, too.
Eurasian Sparrowhawk at a bird pond that has attracted more than 50 species (Accipiter nisus)
Nikon D200, 300mm f/2.8 plus 1.4x extender, 1/350 second, f/5.6, ISO 320, manual focus, Gitzo tripod and video head, blind. Pusztaszer, Hungary, April 2005.
Drinking and Bathing Ponds
Building a drinking pond for the birds in a dry area is one of the simplest and most productive and low-maintenance ways of attracting birds. Drinking ponds don’t create dependence or otherwise confuse their natural behavior. It’s good to choose a site with no other source of water within a few hundred yards, but it’s important to have a thicket nearby where small birds can find shelter. Birds come to drinking ponds to bathe in the water more often than to drink, so make sure the pond has places that are shallow enough so even the smallest birds can stand in the water. Don’t expect to see any waterbirds, though.
Putting out grain for waterbirds
Feeding
Feeding is the most obvious method to attract birds because they need to eat every day of the year. Attracting birds with food is especially easy when it is hard for them to find food in nature by themselves or when they have nestlings, when the weather is extremely cold, when everything is covered in deep snow, or when the days are short. Feeding is an action that interferes with birds’ lives rather drastically and requires caution. Regular feeding teaches birds to come to the feeding on a daily basis, but if the feeding comes to an abrupt stop, the birds may not find another source of food in the area.
Another drawback is that feeding provides food even to individuals that would otherwise die by natural selection. These birds wouldn’t normally reproduce and pass down their defective genes. Therefore, feeding wild animals needs to be undertaken with due caution and should be done only after a thorough assessment of the potential consequences. To get good advice, ask a local expert and follow up with the latest bird research and science.
There are a few tried and tested feeding methods. Birds around the world eat grain. Geese and ducks on shores can be fed corn or other cereal that is cheap and easy to get. Pour grain on the shore or in the shallow water, or even deeper out into the water; diving ducks and coots have no problem diving several yards if they know there is food to be found.
In cold weather birds favor fatty foods such as sunflower seeds, walnuts, and hazelnuts. Tits, like many other insectivorous species, will eat grain when their normal food is not available. As soon as the weather warms up, they will leave the feeders and look for their own food, but until that happens it’s very important that the feeding is continuous and regular. It if is stopped abruptly it can cause the birds to starve and die because they learned to depend on the feeding. There are other perils to take into consideration too, namely the local cats that may start frequenting your bird feeders. Cats can be prevented from getting to the birds, but you should make sure that the birds can’t bathe in the grain or otherwise cause food to fall on the ground, where they will then land to feed and the cats can prey on them.
Cold weather or shortage of food is not so much a problem to tropical birds, but they too like to come to feeders and supplement their diet of wild seeds with some grain.
In temperate climates, where fruiting is limited to a relatively short season, there are no real frugivorous species, whereas in the tropics, where the fruiting season is much longer and ripe fruits are available almost all year, many species can be attracted with fruits. In Costa Rica I had 26 different bird species responding to fruit baits.
A Graylag gosling rests under a parent’s wing after both have feasted on corn scattered in front of the blind (Anser anser)
Nikon D300, Sigma 300–800mm f/5.6, 1/100 second, 600mm, f/5.6, ISO 800, manual focus, self-made tripod, Gitzo video head, blind. Pusztaszer, Hungary.
Brown-hooded Parrots squabbling over fruits that were tied to a tree to attract them (Pyrilia haematotis)
Nikon D700, 300mm f/2.8, 1/1000 second, f/2.8, ISO 1000, two Nikon SB-800 flashes, manual focus, Gitzo tripod and video head. Costa Rica, January 2010.
In the Americas, hummingbirds are commonly fed with commercially made feeders. Wherever I asked about the recipe for the nectar used as bait in the feeders, everybody recommended a ratio of three to four parts water to one part sugar. Hummingbirds are not shy, so a blind is not normally needed, but an image of a bird feeding from a plastic bottle isn’t exactly the same as a hummingbird sipping nectar from a wild flower.
Violet Sabrewing hovering in front of a hummingbird feeder in a Monte Verde cloud forest (Campylopterus hemileucurus)
Nikon D300, 300mm f/2.8, 1/40 second, f/6.3, ISO 200, Nikon SB-800 flashes, manual focus, Gitzo tripod and video head. Costa Rica, February 2009.
A cow’s head attracted Black Vultures and King Vultures to a photo blind (Coragyps atratus, Sarcoramphus papa)
Nikon D300, Sigma 300–800mm f/5.6, 1/400 second, 500mm, f/8.0, ISO 800, manual focus, Gitzo tripod and video head, blind. Costa Rica, January 2009.
Carcasses draw vultures year round, and they draw other raptors in the coldest weeks of winter. In Europe, the species I’ve seen feeding on carcasses include White-tailed Eagle, Golden Eagle, Imperial Eagle, Spotted Eagle, Northern Harrier, Northern Goshawk, Common Buzzard, Common Raven, Jackdaw, Hooded Crow, Rook, Eurasian Magpie, Gray Heron, and even Water Rail. Because handling carcasses carries an increased risk of infection, take every necessary hygienic precaution not to harm yourself or the environment. Always make sure the carcasses used are not victims of poisoning. Safe options include carcasses from hunters and ranchers. You can pick up animals that have been killed by vehicles and take them into the forest. Remember to find out what the local laws say about carcass feeding birds.
Using live bait is not very popular nowadays. If I skipped this subject, or wrote what some people would like to read, I would probably save myself a lot of trouble, but I prefer to state my view on the matter. I condemn any activity that causes animal suffering, be it at any level of the food chain, wild or feral animal alike. But like it or not, carnivorous animals do not eat grain.
Live bait is justifiable provided that the bait animal belongs to the predator’s natural diet and the bait species is not an endangered or protected species. Everybody who eats meat takes part in killing, even if they themselves don’t pull the trigger. Even vegetarians shouldn’t think that crops are grown without destruction of whole habitats. I endorse all efforts to promote and ensure animal welfare, and at the same time I call for a more broad-based discussion that aims for real and practical solutions and comprehensive protection of nature and wildlife.
A Hooded Crow and a Eurasian Magpie wait impatiently for a White-tailed Eagle to finish eating (Haliaeetus albicilla, Pica pica, Corvus cornix)
Canon EOS-1N RS, FD 800mm f/5.6 plus FD-EOS extender, 1/80 second, f/7.1, Fuji Velvia ISO 50, manual focus, beanbag, blind. Pusztaszer, Hungary 2004.
Gray Heron catching fish on a bird feeding pond, just a few inches from a fish-eye lens (Ardea cinerea)
Nikon D300, Tokina 10–17mm f/3.5–4.5, 1/100 second, 17mm, f/7.1, ISO 400, two Nikon SB-800 flashes, manual focus, remote control head, blind. Pusztaszer, Hungary, June 2009.
A Northern Hawk Owl catching a mouse (Surnia ulula)
Canon EOS-1D Mark III, 70–200mm f/2.8, 1/3200 second, 105mm, f/7.1, ISO 800, continuous focus with an extended central focusing point, handheld camera. Liminka, Finland, March 2009.
Here are a few feeding techniques with live bait. Maggots, earthworms, and mealworms are widely available in angler shops, and most woodland birds are mad about them. In the breeding season, when birds are feeding their young, a tray of mealworms in the forest will be found quickly.
Fish farms and fishermen can have surplus fish that for various reasons isn’t saleable. In some places this fish is taken to feed animals in a zoo, but it has to be disposed of one way or another. Find out if you can get this type of fish locally.
Mice and rats are included in the diet of many raptors, and baiting these birds with rodents is easy. I find it strange to talk of animal suffering in this context; a raptor eating a rodent is a perfectly natural, everyday occurrence, right there in nature’s food chain.
When you’ve figured out your own position on live bait, find out what the local laws say about it. In Finland, for instance, the various laws are presently interpreted to ban the use of live bait in attracting or feeding birds, even if the bait species is not protected. Luckily, the use of dead rodents in bird photography is not illegal—which has saved quite a few owls from certain death.
A European Roller that caught a small rodent (Coracias garrulus)
Nikon D300, 300mm f/2.8, 1/2500 second, f/5.6, ISO 640, continuous focus, Gitzo tripod and video head, blind. Pusztaszer, Hungary, June 2008.