Birding Clothing (1 Viewer)

GaryS · Apr 25, 2005

I was surprised to be informed by a very experienced birder that logos on clothing could disturb the birds in view. I have an excellent outdoor jacket from Country Innovation in moss green colour that has a small white logo bearing their name on the front chest of the jacket. Am I guilty of frightening the birds?

Are there any colours/patterns that really do startle birds?

Any advice gratefully recieved.

Cheers

Gary

Geoff Pain · Apr 25, 2005

Bill Oddie wears Country Inovations clothing and it doesn't seem to do his birding any harm,plus he usually wears a hat covered in badges.

GaryS · Apr 25, 2005

Good point Geoff!

salty · Apr 25, 2005

not just the clothes we wear, but your typical bino/scope will scare birds off when they catch the light through the objective, plus the noise we make, our aftershave/perfume etc.

GaryS · Apr 25, 2005

Hi Salty - you won't catch me wearing aftershave - I'm a Northern lad!

You raise other issues in fieldcraft which are interesting and it seems you might have some sympathy for my experienced birder's take on the matter of visual stimuli. I note that serious bird/nature photographers use camouflage wrappings on their optics.

Cheers

Gary

Katy Penland · Apr 25, 2005

Best birding camo outfit

You mean all serious birders don't dress like this to go birding? :bounce:

GaryS · Apr 25, 2005

Katy - I didn't know you had been over to England and snapped me in my snazzy clobber!

Katy Penland · Apr 25, 2005

LOL, been to England several times but have yet to see anyone there in this get-up!

Although a dear photographer friend here in Colorado swears by hers!

adrianf · Apr 25, 2005

Imagine, a birding club arranges a meet in a forest. They all turn up dressed like that and never see each other!

streatham · Apr 25, 2005

salty said:
our aftershave/perfume etc.

Most birds are thought to have a poor sense of smell so I think you're OK with the aftershave. Perhaps you should avoid anything to pungent on Pelagics though just in case it overpowers the fish oil

Luke

GaryS · Apr 25, 2005

Nice one Adrian!

Having seen Katy's friend's outfit - I think I should stop worrying about my logo - never mind frightening the birds...... shouldn't be be viewed by those of a nervous disposition!

adrianf · Apr 25, 2005

Just the sight of my face seems to be enough to scare most things away! (both people and birds)

But seriously, are birds sensitive to any particular colours? A friend once told me that they're colour blind but I can't believe it - if that were the case what would be the point in "breeding plumage"?

lvn600 · Apr 25, 2005

I always seem to have bad luck when i go dressed as a hawk but maybe its just a coincidence.

Katy Penland · Apr 25, 2005

Birds are most certainly not color blind. Just show up at a bird meet wearing a red or yellow jacket and see how long you live.

Erm, that's not to imply the birds will attack...

GaryS · Apr 25, 2005

Thats an interesting point about bird vision - perhaps one of the ornithologists on the forum could provide us with some answers. It must be incredibly difficult to research such matters as vision and smell in birds.

Rasmus Boegh · Apr 26, 2005

Katy is right, birds are certainly not colour blind. Indeed, many birds have a better sight than we do and at least some groups can see light of spectrums that we are unable to see. Some time ago I wrote a brief post about it (#4):

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=15963

In general, I just try to avoid clothes in bright colours when out birding - that's all. I might consider the handsome outfit in post #6, but I'd probably would scare my birding friends away then + I've birded in countries where the local authorities might misunderstand the intensions of a foreign bloke running around their area in an army outfit and with a pair of bins around the neck!

Gashead · Apr 26, 2005

GaryS said:
I was surprised to be informed by a very experienced birder that logos on clothing could disturb the birds in view.

I'd find a Millets logo quite disturbing.

Euan Buchan · Apr 26, 2005

Usually I wear a green anorack & in the summer I wear a Country Innovation Waistcoat. When I was in Benbecula this year My Mum & I had a walk to the beach & on the way I pointed out a Song Thrush and told her to stay still & walk slowly but she was wearing a bright blie & white anorack & it scared the bird off

edrick owl · Apr 26, 2005

When out birding I almost always wear a thin khaki green fleece (well, summer has not yet fully arrived here), complemented with no logo whatsoever. This appears to have been the manufacturers choice. The fleece cost £4.99p from Tesco, and a logo would probably have doubled the cost! I personally find it warm enough for me, plus it is virtually soundless. Waterproof it may not be, but then again my health dictates that I am a fair weather birder.

As for headgear, then it just has to be a plain, no logo, green baseball hat (I am bald and would stand out quite significantly. This also acts a a sun visor, and I think helps cover part of the face up from the angle of a bird looking down, eg the extended peak.

Sir's outfit this season is completed with a pair of jeans and matching pair of trainers.

The whole idea of getting close to nature is not to wear bright, gaudy coloured clothing, rushing around, making as much noise as you can. I usually walk around 12-15 steps; take care where I put my feet (twigs, leaves etc); stand; and just look and listen; often leaning against a tree for 4-5 minutes before moving on.

This "system" seems to work well enough for me.

Regards,

nat · Apr 26, 2005

camouflage

personaly I try to avoid bright clothing - but I'm not particularly worried if I do wear something brighter occasionaly. My partner tends to wear a football shirt emblazoned with various logos etc.
i don't think it makes that much difference. You really can't avoid been seen but it is important not to be perceived as a threat.
best thing is to avoid standing out in silhouette - so avoid climbing on top of banks, that sort of thing.
Try to have a hedge or something behind you. It breaks up your outline and animals (not only birds) seem to cope better with your presence. You only need to look at a ring plover with it's bold plumage and how it breaks up it's outline when still or sitting on eggs to see that demonstrated.
Obviously rapid movements and noise is a big turn off - I've also heard that direct eye contact is a no no.
so I think the answer is disguise yourself as a ringed plover or a zebra!!

much more fetching than all that camo clothing

cheers

Nat

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