Three springs ago, I used "operant conditioning" with a pair of wild Catbirds. They were frequenting my patio as they raised their nestlings in a nearby yew shrub. I started by periodically whistling and each time accompanied this by rolling out a couple of blueberries from the sill of my door onto the patio.
Once they discovered the berries they were primed to look there for food. Subsequently, every time they heard my whistle, they would find a berry. Over the next several days, I frequently repeated this, never deviating from the whistling and the rewards...except each episode I rolled the berry closer and closer to the sill. To my vast delight the day came when the bird hopped up on the sill and took the berry from my fingers. After that, each Catbird came immediately to my whistles and flew or ran across the patio to my fingers to be fed.
This continued through that first summer. But the greatest delight awaited me the next spring. Catbirds migrate to southern states, Central America and even further south for the winter. The following spring, on May 3, when a Catbird returned to my yard, I whistled and offered a blueberry. It flew immediately to the patio, and fluttered/ran to my door sill and took the berry from my fingers! It remembered!
And again, this 3'rd spring, the bird has taken berries from my hand...so endearing!
So enjoy this!
Polly
A wonderful Story from Polly Laszlo Brody
Three springs ago, I used "operant conditioning" with a pair of wild Catbirds. They were frequenting my patio as they raised their nestlings in a nearby yew shrub. I started by periodically whistling and each time accompanied this by rolling out a couple of blueberries from the sill of my door onto the patio.
Once they discovered the berries they were primed to look there for food. Subsequently, every time they heard my whistle, they would find a berry. Over the next several days, I frequently repeated this, never deviating from the whistling and the rewards...except each episode I rolled the berry closer and closer to the sill. To my vast delight the day came when the bird hopped up on the sill and took the berry from my fingers. After that, each Catbird came immediately to my whistles and flew or ran across the patio to my fingers to be fed.
This continued through that first summer. But the greatest delight awaited me the next spring. Catbirds migrate to southern states, Central America and even further south for the winter. The following spring, on May 3, when a Catbird returned to my yard, I whistled and offered a blueberry. It flew immediately to the patio, and fluttered/ran to my door sill and took the berry from my fingers! It remembered!
And again, this 3'rd spring, the bird has taken berries from my hand...so endearing!
So enjoy this!
Polly
A wonderful Story from Polly Laszlo Brody
20 QUESTIONS FOR OUR NEW PRESIDENT
Two students have done a cute little Q & A with our new President. They all have the same intro, but the questions are different and fun. Just click on the boxes to view them.
