Never count on Hollywood to give truthful accounts of anything! No, this is not a political rant, I do not do those. This is a critter rant, for whatever it is worth. Probably not much. For the longest time, I thought eagles made the high-pitched scream that we all heard on the old western movies. Let a cowboy be lost in the desert with an eagle off in the distance and you would always hear a distinctive screech. Yep...that was an eagle! Nope...that might have been an eagle filmed but that was not an eagle screaming. As a kid, I never thought much about it. To me, an eagle could very well be screaming its head off at that cowboy....I was more interested in the horse! I was all about horses and never followed a plot of any movie but, instead, focused solely on the horse! I fretted over the horse stumbling about with no water but never worried that the cowboy was being circled by vultures or screamed at by eagles.
Now as an adult living on the Bayou and watching every critter that calls the place home, I can distinguish an eagle call with the best. To me, the eagles sound a lot like an old rusty wheel. I have yet to hear one scream. Maybe they do but not to my knowledge. That screaming is done by a hawk. Almost every raptor that appears in the movies has a voice over by a red-tailed hawk. This bird has that signature scream down pat! It is a red-tailed hawk scream that is famous! After all these years of believing otherwise, I feel sort of cheated! Not really. Maybe the hawk should feel cheated.
Recently, there have been more red-tailed hawks flying about the Bayou. These birds are huge! They hunt by soaring high above the ground and can spot a mouse at about 100 feet. Their dive is graceful with feet extended and they rarely miss their mark. The hawks will take anything they can overpower and have been known to pick up unattended pets occasionally. Back on the farm, it was quite common to lose a fat hen or baby pig to a red-tailed hawk.
Even with their reputation of being ruthless hunters, it was nice to see three hawks soaring overhead a few days ago. Hearing them scream brought a smile as I thought of how Hollywood misled us all by using a hawk instead of an eagle. Deceptive! Hollywood...how dare you!!! Now, about that horse. Did it make it through the desert?
Very often critters can seem to be something other than what they are. Besides mimicking other critters, they can "alter" their appearance to suit a need. Some lizards can change colors to help them hide beneath leaves, snakes can flatten themselves to appear larger than they really are and some insects have large "eye" spots to give the idea that they are huge. Usually, these are actions used to evade predators. Not a bad idea at all when you think about it. That said, looks can be deceiving.
Then there are critters that do not change their appearance but still give us the idea that they are somewhat different than they really are. Take, for instance, the Great Blue Heron. The bird is huge. It is one of the largest birds in North America standing up to nearly four feet tall and able to stretch up another six inches or so. With its six foot wingspan, the bird is just as impressive in flight as it is standing. BUT...all of that hugeness is deceptive indeed. If you weigh the bird, you might be confused that it is a mere five to six pounds. That is about the weight of your average grocery store chicken! A Great Blue Heron sure looks a LOT bigger than any chicken!
It is true that the heron is larger in some areas than a chicken...the legs, wings and neck are a lot longer..but the lack of weight is a result of its bones being hollow. Those long spindly legs do not add a huge lot of weight to the bird.
I watched a Great Blue Heron wade about the shallows as it was hunting for supper. The setting sun cast a beautiful golden glow about the bird highlighting its gorgeous feathers. The bird was decked out in its breeding plumage and was not beyond showing off a bit for the other herons in the area. As I watched, I thought "Yep, Bird, you have them all fooled!"
