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Daftest birding mistakes! (1 Viewer)

G

Goat

Well-known member
Reading the Bourne Deception by Lustbader had to laugh out loud when I read his attempt to add some local colour as he described a characters flat in Belgravia, London.

" There's a mews out back with a flowering pear tree that a pair of house martins nest in come spring. And a nightjar serenades me most evenings."

Well I suppose he'd only heard of " a nightingale sang in Berkley Square"

Anyone else read or seen in films/TV where the intentions were good but the birding wrong?
 
Well, unless you're referring to birding specifically, there are plenty of occasions when a film/series/computer game is set in Europe or Asia but the bird voices in the background are all American ones. Funy enough, one of the most jarring examples is the recent "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

Also, the classic "show a Bald Eagle and play a RTH voice" move.
Also, books (yes, even best selling ones) translated from English to German often contain retarded mistakes. In one novel, the translator had translated "bald eagle" literally (basically, to "skinhead eagle") instead of looking up the term in a dictionary.
 
I remember a programme on CH4 - here in the UK - on the extinct tribes in the northern Atacama of Peru where they showed a long, lingering shot of a Red Kite, complete with RtH soundtrack.

Chris
 
Tawny Owl is one of the "stock sounds" that are always used, regardless of setting, along with Red-tailed Hawk and Great Northern Diver, and possibly a few others.
 
A Johnny Kingdom programme a couple of years back. Johnny espied a red kite while filming in the Welsh hills,when what was clearly shown was a buzzard. Bless him!

Si.
 
One seen recently: Immortal (a swords-and-sandals action film loosely built around Greek mythology) has a scene with a Greek king flying a Harris Hawk which makes Red-tailed Hawk noises.
 
In the TV version of Game of Thrones, I've heard Prairie Warbler and European Robin in the background, along with a host of songs I don't recognize. Of course, it's only a fantasy continent, so not quite the same as using American birds for a setting clearly in Europe, etc.
 
Welsh Peregrine said:
Lovely hooting Tawny Owl in the background of "The Crying Game", set in Ireland....
Click to expand...

I think tawny owls are more common in Ireland that people think. Any night time scene shown during an Irish drama is often accompanied by a screeching or hooting tawny.

I just can't work out why I haven't seen one over here yet!!

Si.
 
I suppose it is easier to make the errors on flim/TV when the wildlife does exactly what it normally does. My biggest groan from the UK TV shows - Midsomers is a prime one - is the 'realistic rural night' with the calling vixen no matter what season they are in!
Thanks for thses folks, I'm watching Game of Thrones so will keep an ear out!
 
The Adventures of Robin Hood (Errol Flynn) not only has Harris Hawks hooded in Nottingham Castle but the deer Robin brings to the feast is a Mule Deer.

The first book of Mary Stewart's Merlin trilogy, The Crystal Cave, mentions Ring Doves in a connection that clearly indicates she was thinking of Collared Doves (self-introduced post-WWII), not Woodpigeons, and there are numerous references to Rabbits (introduced by the Normans.)

I suspect its not top of the research list for period authors...

John
 
That Channel 4 Twitchers documentry where Dick Filby relays a CB message from Scilly whilst in Norfolk!

Willow Warbler singing in the background of one of the "Man with No Name" spaghetti westerns (cant remember which one)
 
Sangahyando said:
Also, the classic "show a Bald Eagle and play a RTH voice" move.
Click to expand...

I've heard this several times on tv. The Colber Report on comedy central has the RTH "screeeeee" dubbed over the 'star splangled' Bald Eagle. I guess TV considers the RTH call a 'cooler' raptor sound...poor Eagle ... or poor hawk (?)...he gets no credit whatsoever. Both the BE and RTH should sue Comedy Central :)
 
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Kookaburra calling in a fair few films involving jungles.
The Jungle book film & Jurassic park I seem to recall?

needless to say here that they are endemic to oz.
 
I enjoy the "wrong bird/call/song/season" but does it matter? Most of the shows mentioned are not exactly triumphs of realism.

As to Ludlum (who inspired this thread); his imagination is a lot better than his writing.
 
House Wren (American one) is a classic background bird in many media, some European ones.

And Great Tit I hear in some American ones.

Red-tailed Hawk is a classic also, and so is Peacock.
 
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