Bird vision and fletch color

[Snow Crow]

Looking for anecdotes, experience, opinions about what fletch colors are most visible to birds in flight.  Would like to find a compromise between hideability and findability.  The crows are laughing at my pink feathers.

[Pete McMiller]

Can't tell you much as I've never tried to hunt them with a bow BUT one thing I know for sure is that they key in on the color red.  I makes sense since they are always on the lookout for dead critters for dinner.  The other thing is that, as smart as they are, I doubt you are going to fool them no matter what color you use.  Good Luck

[SELFBOW19953]

Crows are quick and smart. Did you ever see a roadkill crow??

[NYRON]

Birds, including crows, have excellent vision in the color and ultraviolet spectrums. In fact their color vision is similar to, but better than ours.

If you think about it from an evolutionary perspective, there would be no point in investing energy to display bright colors (think cardinals) or take on the added risk of being detected by predators if you could not also see colors and use them to your advantage

Birds use feather and skin color for all sorts of reasons, including mating and defending territories. Crows are among the smartest birds and can most definitely see the difference between a cardinal and a blue jay or red fletching vs. blue.

I doubt that changing the color of your feathers will help much when it comes to crows...they are just smart critters. The New Caledonian Crow is the only bird known to regularly make and use tools. If presented with a grub in the bottom of a clear bottle, it will quickly form a hook on the end of stick and extract the grub for a tasty meal.

[Blackhawk]

Crows are never seen as roadkill since they post a sentry to lookout for vehicles.

When a vehicle is seen coming, the sentry crow alerts the others by yelling, "CAW CAW CAW!"

Sorry, could not help myself...    


I do know from past experience that a wounded crow can create a scary Hitchcock scene from "The Birds".

They do know the meaning of Revenge!

[monterey]

What do they say for a truck!

[stack]

They don't, that's when you see a roadkilled crow LOL

[ChuckC]

Doves and crows routinely dodge shotgun pellets ( that's my excuse anyway) so a slow arrow could be easy.  Just keep at it.
CHuckC

[hawkeye n pa]

Them crows are incredible at dodging arrows.  Good luck!!

I thought that sentry crow hollered Cawr,Cawr,Cawr.

[DennyK]

Don't shoot my buddy Harold, it could be Harriet, how do you tell.  Anyway, he or she really likes dog food.  He learned real quick when I come out and put some on the picnic table that it's dinner time and lands above my head and yells at me, "Go back in the house I'm hungry."

[SELFBOW19953]

TRAWK, TRAWK, TRAWK for a truck??
CAWR, CAWR, CAWR for a car??

[Thumper Dunker]

When you find out how to hit them let me know.
They have way better eyes than we do.

[Bowwild]

NYRON is right on.

Think of the turkey gobbler and how his head turns bright colors; red, white, blue - that show isn't for us.

Doves also see arrows coming. I've watched them turn their little heads to see my arrow.

We had lots of doves last fall.  I figured out where to shoot a sitting dove. About 2 feet up and towards the direction it is likely to fly.  Turkeys see so good, they can see if you have a turkey tag in your pocket.  Changing your feather colors will make no difference.

[achigan]

The only color I've had any luck with is dull grey...traveling about 1,500 FPS...

[Sam McMichael]

They distinguish color well and pick up motion very quickly.  That puts them two up on me right there.

[Snow Crow]

I'm fishing for differences in bird perception of pink, chartreuse, white ( High visibility ) red, blue, bright green ( med vis), and black, brown, gray (no vis ).

Keep in mind two radically different backdrops: snow cover vs green/brown.

Would I be better off with stealth fletching and adding color to shaft with a colorful wrap, nock, or nock collar?

[Snow Crow]

Double post

[Snow Crow]

Triple post