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Re: Bird Hearing



On Fri, 8 Jun 2001 Wenbirdy@aol.com wrote:
> 
>     I know we all have difficulties with squirrels, etc. who eat our bird 
> food.  We are thinking of purchasing an ultrasonic pest eliminator.  Can 
> anyone tell me at what frequency birds hear?  I don't want to eliminate the 
> birds from the garden since they are our focus or hurt any of these other 
> animals using chemicals.  I am inundated with squirrels, raccoons, chipmunks, 
> rabbits, voles, and mice/rats which are cleaning out the feeders as well as 
> destroying our plantings.  Any comments or suggestions?

There are at least some birds that can hear ultrasonic frequencies. I 
don't think any live in the US, though. The only one I can remember right 
now is the Oilbird, a Latin American species that is nocturnal and lives 
in large colonies in caves, much like bats. However, I wouldn't rule out 
the possibility that owls or goatsuckers (nighthawks, whip-poor-wills, 
etc.) might also hear these frequencies; in the case of owls, if you 
drive them off, you might make your rodent problems worse instead of 
better...

A better route might be using predator urine. Many garden supply places 
sell coyote, bobcat, and other predator urine for use as deer repellent. 
Should work on rabbits and rodents too. It works by smell; since 
virtually all birds other than vultures have poor senses of smell, it 
should have no effect on them. Napthalene, the chemical used in 
mothballs, is sold in pellets as snake repellent; it might also work on 
rodents, but don't use it near any ponds or other wetlands. Or you can 
try applying capsacin, the chemical that makes hot peppers spicy, to your 
bird food and plants; for some reason it affects mammals but not birds.

Good luck,

Josh


Joshua S. Rose
Duke University
Department of Biology (Zoology, R.I.P.)

jsr6@acpub.duke.edu
http://www.duke.edu/~jsr6/