I remember a scene in a TV programme on twitchers on the Isles of Scilly, where it was raining so a birder was shown staying indoors and watching a documentary. He explained that he would try to tick off as many bird species as possible from the documentary he was watching, in order to while away the time.
Anyway, I encourage you birders out there to write what your favourite bird-themed documentaries are, either for this rather arcane ticking game or otherwise for your entertainment.
Cheers!
Never thought of that, but its an interesting perspective of listing down all the birds in documentaries, one of my favourites documentaries is called âbird of preyâ, enjoyable and inspiring.
I was recently watching a penguin docuseries from BBC called âPenguins: Spy in the Huddleâ and immediately became emotionally invested; thereâs a scene where another penguin is comforting a mother who lost her chick that absolutely shatters me. Thereâs some clips of it on youtube if anybodyâs interested. Itâs also narrated by David Tennant, which is pretty cool!
I would bet that there are a lot of birders out there who see birds in movies and TV shows during regular viewing, and can pick out species and errors in the shows like when African vultures are used in shows made in the U.S. southwest deserts. This is because U.S. federal law forbids possession of migratory birds.
I watch British TV shows on DVD from our local libraries. I see barn owls in the Midsomer Murders episodes. I also hear birds that I cannot identify. I have never been to the U.K., and havenât studied the birdsâ call over there.
I also watch shows on DVD made in Australia like âThe Brokenwood Mysteriesâ. I hear birds that I cannot identify.
(I should try to record these calls/songs and use the Merlin birding app on my phone. I would have to download the appropriate bird pack.)
I know a number of birders here in Northeast Ohio who watch golf on TV. We often post what birds we see and hear on the golf broadcasts in the U.S. My most frequently heard bird I can identify is the red-bellied woodpecker. I can also recall hearing Carolina wrens and cardinals. These are bold, loud birds that probably doesnât care about the crowds on the courses. Mallards are also often seen on TV in the ponds around the courses. Gulls are difficult to ID in these broadcasts because they are flying.
sure they were not sound effect birds?
I learned a really neat fact the other day - as Iâd actually never heard bald eagle calls - but it does soundâŚless than epic. They use a red tailed hawk call for all programming, so our fancy magestic american bird the bald eagle sounds as epic as it should. If you search âbald eagle sound effectâ theyâre all red tail hawk calls. At the Auburn games, (am college football) when they fly the eagle around the stadium (I donât know why - never been just told this is a thing) they even play the red tail hawk call on the PA so thats what you hear. Itâs a huge thing! I never knew xD Every single âhollywoodâ film uses it. Kinda like how all frogs go âribbitâ because thatâs the species they had a recording of.
So anywayâŚIâd be warry of counting birds from calls on TV programsâŚ
(In my defense, I am not a birder, and I have significant hearing loss and donât even try to ID birds from calls so thereâs no way Iâd notice the discrepancy myself LOL)
I can assure you if itâs British tv, thereâs at least one Robin singing louder than humans are talking. I donât remember birds from MM, but local online community was interested in counting how many times that one barn owl and fox were shown. Fox sounds are very prevalent there at night times too.
Thereâs one captive Harrisâs hawk as I remember, and a painted hoopoe.
upd. hah, I opened first episode of the first season, first 5 seconds and robin is there!
The best bird documentary to try to tick off species from is this one:
I have heard about that about eagles in programs and using red-tailed hawk calls for them. I have seen/heard it myself.
I will have to look up the robin song.
I also hear the red fox âscreamâ a lot in British TV shows in the countryside.
You can check here and here, itâs easy to recognize as itâs the only bird (in Europe) that uses that âtziiiâ part so much, other than song you can hear its alarm sounds, that are discribed as âsound of hitting polished stonesâ.
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