Gong method for capturing shorebirds and other ground-roosting species

In many shorebird studies it is necessary to capture adult birds. While shorebirds can often be trapped on the nest, capturing them away from the nest is usually very difficult and may require expensive equipment. After weeks of failure in our attempts to capture migrant and resident shorebirds in northern Utah marshes using a variety of mist-netting schemes, we became convinced that nighttime techniques held the most promise for success. Standard nightlighting techniques [Labisky 1968] are not easily applied in these kinds of marshes because of the heavy equipment involved. When we learned of a nightlighting method used by natives of the East Indies to obtain roosting shorebirds for market [H.E. McClure pets. comm.; see Murphy 1955f or a related technique],we decided to try it. The original method involves the teamwork of persons carrying long-handled nets with others carrying torches and still others who chant as they continuously beat on a gong.T his paper reports on our attempts to modify this into a western-style operation involving two individuals.