Scooter Talk

I was thinking of signing up to become a charger and came across an article on Slate titled "For the Birds" that got me down on the idea. The author is claiming to have made $5 a day and spent most of their time tracking down decoys. Is this a typical experience for chargers? How much can I expect to make charging birds?

Don't let that article get you down. The biggest mistake the author makes is not researching the location and the Bird's activity before heading to the location. See my thread on Increasing your Bird Capture Rate for guidance on how to determine which Birds have the highest probability of capture. I'll often go on streaks of 5-6 successful captures in a row before hitting a dud.

I live in Atlanta and spend an hour each night, between 9pm - 10pm, each night during the week picking up Birds. Average ~5 per night at $5 each. You'll spend another 30 mins the following morning dropping off the Birds for an average hourly rate of $17 per hour. As you get more experience you'll find out what strategy works best for you. This is definitely not life changing money but it is enough to be worth my time.

Weekends are the best for me. I've had several days with a payout over $100 for less than three hours of work. The screen shot is from my best day yet with a payout north of $175.

wow.. are you in ATL?

birdcharger99 wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 14, 2018 4:17 pm

wow.. are you in ATL?

Yeah, I live just north of Midtown. I go out Saturday and Sunday mornings after releasing the previous days catch by 7am. I'll scout the map using BirdWatcher's techniques found here. Plan my trip which usually takes me north and OTP to pick up Birds that sat out all night. I'd drop off all but one scooter the same day and use my remaining Bird to zip up and down the Beltline picking up more. It's a blast!

Recently signed up to be a mechanic and Bird won't allow you do both. Happy to pass along what I've learned charging.

that's a cool strategy.. Any experience of capturing the bird during mid-day and release the Bird once 100% during the same day or evening, not during the 4-7am window?

You can release Birds at any nest before 5 pm and receive full payout if captured the same day.

Report back and let us know how it goes!

Thanks I will give it a try today. Its been 5 days and I requested for additional charging kits but no luck

The forum is encouraging people to post by giving away a charger every 100 posts. Never know, you might get lucky. Here is the thread: CHARGER GIVEAWAY!

looks like they're locking access to birds that you've captured the previous day at 7am. So that technique won't work anymore. I'm in Atlanta, too. I live in Midtown. I only do this by foot though. I normally get anywhere from 2-7 birds in a night (or mix in some limes there, no more than 7 total).