Saturday, September 6, 2008

It's All About the Birds

I used to think I was the only person who was distracted by bird sounds in the background of radio interviews and who nitpicked bird facts in movies. At least, my family and friends led me to think so. However, a few years ago, there was an article in one of the bird magazines where a well-known birder (I can't remember which one now) was relating how his family and friends didn't like watching certain movies with him because he would rant about the inaccuracies about birds. In this particular column, he was talking about Alfred Hitchcock's movie, The Birds. So now I know I'm normal.

I was listening to an interview on NPR in the truck this morning and it happened again. Obviously, the interview was taking place outside as a bird was singing in the background. It wasn't a bird I knew, so I was absorbed in trying to figure out what it was. However, the interview didn't include the location, and I didn't figure out the bird in the 30-second sound clip. Neither can I tell you who was being interviewed or what the discussion was about. It's all about the bird...

I also go nuts when there is incorrect information about birds given in movies. I was watching Charlie's Angels with my kids one evening and one of the clues was the song of a bird. We won't even go into how incorrect the information was. It wasn't a great movie to start with, but I was completely distracted by the fact they put bad bird facts in the movie. Heck, they would have someone who knew something check clothing, or historical facts, or hairdo's--why not a bird the plot of the movie depended upon? They could at least have used a real bird, with accurate information. One good thing though...at least the birder in the movie was one of the heroines, not a complete geek.

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