The majestic bald eagle is the national emblem of the United States and a recognizable symbol of freedom and power. Known for its white head and large yellow beak, the bald eagle is famous for the loud, sharp cries it uses to communicate. However, many people wonder if the eagle’s iconic screeching noise heard in films, TV shows, and other media accurately represents the sounds these birds make in the wild. This article will examine the vocalizations of bald eagles and whether they truly make that characteristic high-pitched scream.
What Do Bald Eagles Sound Like?
The bald eagle has a range of vocalizations it uses to communicate, including raspy croaks, chirps, and whistling calls. However, the sound most commonly associated with them is a loud, piercing cry. This screaming noise is often featured in dramatic footage of eagles soaring through the air or perched on branches. It evokes a sense of power and freedom. But do bald eagles actually make that exact sound in nature?
The answer is no. While bald eagles are vocal birds, they do not make the high-pitched screaming noise that is often depicted in movies, television, logos, and other media. That iconic screeching sound is usually the call of a different bird – the red-tailed hawk.
Red-tailed hawks make a high-pitched keeing noise that is often described as a piercing scream. The two species have overlapping habitats and are sometimes confused by observers. When a red-tailed hawk’s screech is dubbed over footage of a bald eagle, it reinforces the false notion that the eagle makes that sound. In reality, bald eagles have more coarse and grating calls.
Calls of the Bald Eagle
So what noises do bald eagles actually produce? Here are some of the common vocalizations of these majestic birds:
Soft Chirps
Eagles use quiet chirps and chittering sounds for communication at the nest. Nestlings will chirp when hungry or requesting food from their parents. Adults make soft chirping noises to interact with their mate or offspring. These gentle vocalizations establish parent-offspring bonding and help coordinate feeding.
Begging Calls
Hungry eaglets (baby eagles) peep loudly when begging for food from adult birds. These distinctive noises, also called “demand vocalizations”, are part of parent-offspring communication. It allows the nestlings to request meals and drives adults to deliver food.
Alarm Calls
Bald eagles produce loud, high-pitched whistling sounds to signal danger or warn intruders. These alarm calls put other eagles on alert and convey the need for caution. Alarm calls are commonly made to ward off predators or when an eagle feels its territory is threatened.
Contact Calls
Adult eagles use louder, repetitive croaking, barking, and yelping noises to identify and reconnect with their mate or offspring. These contact calls are especially frequent during breeding season as pairs reconnect and coordinate nesting.
Other Vocalizations
In addition to chirps, begging calls, alarm calls, and contact calls, bald eagles also make clucking, popping, and even laughing-like sounds. Their vocal repertoire includes a wide array of noises for communication. But high-pitched, piercing screams are not natural for them.
Why Do People Associate Screams with Eagles?
If bald eagles don’t truly make that signature screaming cry, why is it so strongly tied to these birds in media and pop culture? There are a few reasons this association developed:
Confusion with Red-Tailed Hawks
As mentioned earlier, the most likely reason bald eagles are linked to high-pitched screams is confusion with the calls of red-tailed hawks. The red-tailed hawk scream is similar to the sound designers and filmmakers wanted for dramatic effect, but attributed it to the wrong bird.
Symbolic Purposes
The screaming cry projects strength, liberty, and fierce power – qualities associated with the bald eagle as America’s national symbol. Using this scream reinforces and dramatizes the eagle’s symbolic connotations, even if the sound is inaccurate.
Lack of Bald Eagle Recordings
Access to high-quality bald eagle sound recordings may have been limited when TV shows, movies, advertising, and logos were being developed decades ago. Producers went with the more dramatic red-tailed hawk screams since actual eagle recordings were not available.
Dramatic Effect
The red-tailed hawk’s piercing scream is attention-grabbing, exciting, and emotional. It stirs a stronger reaction than the bald eagle’s actual calls, so designers opted for the cry that had more dramatic impact. This perpetuated the mismatch between sound and species.
Representative Eagle Screams
The red-tailed hawk scream has become so ubiquitous that it works as a representative cry for all eagles and birds of prey in general. Some argue it has transcended biology to become more of a symbolic sound no longer tied to a single species. While not biologically accurate, it is recognizable as the iconic avian scream.
Conclusion
Bald eagles do not actually make the famous crying noise most associated with these birds. That shrill, piercing scream is produced by red-tailed hawks. But confusion between the species’ calls, limited resources, symbolic motivation, and sheer dramatic impact led sound editors to dub hawk screams over eagle footage. This mismatch between sound and species is so entrenched in pop culture that the cry has become a representative scream conveying grandeur, freedom, and fierceness in any context. So while bald eagles don’t naturally make that particular noise, it has become the go-to sound for these majestic birds in media over many decades. The next time you hear that cry in a bald eagle image or logo, remember it was chosen more for symbolic effect than biological accuracy!
Fun Facts About Bald Eagles
To provide more background on these fascinating birds, here are some interesting facts about the biology and behavior of bald eagles:
Nesting and Reproduction
- Bald eagles typically mate for life and use the same nest for many years.
- Their nests are the largest of any North American bird, built with branches and lined with moss, grass, and other soft materials.
- On average, bald eagles lay 1-3 eggs per breeding season.
- Both male and female eagles incubate the eggs and care for the eaglets after they hatch.
- Eaglets fledge (take their first flight) at 10-12 weeks old.
Habitat and Range
- Bald eagles live near coasts, rivers, lakes, and reservoirs with an abundance of fish, their main food source.
- They thrive in Alaska and Canada, with restored populations in all 48 continental U.S. states.
- Bald eagles require old-growth and mature trees for nesting and sheltering.
- Their breeding habitat spans over 6,000 miles between Alaska and Florida.
Description and Dimensions
- Wingspan: 6 to 7.5 feet
- Body length: 28 to 40 inches
- Weight: 8 to 14 pounds
- Mature bald eagles have a brown body, bright white head, and yellow beak.
- Immature eagles are mostly brown until age 4-5 when white feathers develop.
Diet and Hunting
- Fish comprise over 90% of a bald eagle’s diet.
- They also hunt mammals, snakes, waterfowl, and carrion.
- Using their excellent eyesight, eagles locate prey while soaring or perched on trees or the ground.
- To catch fish, they swoop down and grab them decisively with their talons.
Conservation Status
- The bald eagle population declined in the mid-1900s due to hunting, lead poisoning, and DDT pesticide use.
- They were protected as an endangered species in most states by the 1970s.
- Conservation efforts helped bald eagle populations rebound significantly.
- They were removed from the Endangered Species List in 2007 but remain protected under other laws.
Key Facts About Red-Tailed Hawk Screams
To clarify the differences between bald eagle and red-tailed hawk vocalizations, here are some key facts about the red-tailed hawk’s famous scream:
- This shrill, loud scream is the red-tailed hawk’s most common call.
- They make the keeing scream to declare territory and communicate with other hawks.
- Screaming often occurs during breeding season and helps attract a mate.
- Both male and female red-tailed hawks make the screaming call.
- The cry can convey different meanings based on context.
- In movies and logos, the red-tailed hawk scream evokes drama and symbolizes predatory power.
Understanding the meaning behind the red-tailed hawk’s scream provides insight into why it is used incorrectly to represent bald eagles in media. The two species have unique calls, but this high-pitched screech best delivers the desired symbolic and dramatic impact in films, logos, and other contexts.
Comparison of Eagle and Hawk Screams
To highlight the difference between bald eagle and red-tailed hawk vocalizations, below is a quick comparison of the sounds:
| Bald Eagle | Red-Tailed Hawk |
|---|---|
| Hoarse croaking | High-pitched screaming |
| Grating cries | Long, drawn-out shrieking |
| Chirping | Keeeee-ah sound |
| Barking | Shrill keeing |
| Whistling | Piercing scream |
This table summarizes how the vocalizations of bald eagles and red-tailed hawks significantly differ. Red-tailed hawks are characterized by their signature screaming cry, while bald eagles make an assortment of chirps, barks, and rattling sounds. Remember, if you hear a high-pitched, far-reaching scream, that’s the call of a red-tailed hawk and not a bald eagle.
Examples of Mismatched Eagle and Hawk Screams
The red-tailed hawk scream is pervasive in movies, logos, and other media associated with eagles. Here are some famous examples where the species’ calls are mismatched:
- The Colbert Report – The satirical show’s intro features a screaming red-tailed hawk dubbed over footage of a soaring bald eagle.
- National Geographic – Their iconic logo opening depicts a bald eagle against a map backdrop while a red-tailed hawk scream plays.
- Star Spangled Banner – Whitney Houston’s famous Super Bowl performance of the national anthem features the red-tailed hawk scream.
- Flags of Our Fathers – This Clint Eastwood WWII film depicts bald eagles screaming over Iwo Jima.
- First Blood – In an early scene, a red-tailed hawk scream is used as a bald eagle flies overhead.
These are just a few prominent examples of how the species’ calls are incorrectly matched in movies, logos, and other media. Over time, the red-tailed hawk scream has become engrained as the representative cry of eagles through repeated fictional pairings.
Reasons the Mismatched Screams Persist
This common mismatch between sound and species continues because:
- The red-tailed hawk scream better matches the desired tone and emotion.
- Editors opt for drama over biological accuracy.
- It has become an accepted shortcut to symbolize eagles.
- Changing established branding elements poses logistical challenges.
- Limited eagle call recordings to replace with authentic sounds.
Due to these factors, the incorrect screaming hawk cries are likely to remain attached to eagles in future media. The dramatic effect carries more weight than re-recording brand icons with the right sounds. This background helps explain the origins of the phenomenon and why bald eagles are forever linked with a scream that isn’t theirs.
Efforts to Use More Authentic Eagle Screams
Despite the standard use of hawk screams for eagles, some recent projects aim for more accurate sound effects:
- The 2020 film The Way Back uses bald eagle recordings from Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
- The National Park Service created educational eagle screech vs. hawk scream pages on its website.
- Documentaries like American Eagle incorporate actual bald eagle vocalizations.
- Some zoo displays feature facts on the differences between bald eagle and hawk screams.
Efforts like these to replace the standard hawk cry with authentic eagle sounds help counter the decades-old mismatch. However, the traditional hawk scream remains predominant in most pop culture contexts. Changing established sound clips poses challenges, but more accurate eagle vocalizations may become more common over time.
Conclusion
The loud, familiar screaming sound commonly attributed to bald eagles in movies, logos, and other media is factually incorrect. That shrill cry belongs to the red-tailed hawk, not the bald eagle. But confusion between the species and the dramatic impact of the hawk’s scream caused it to become engrained as the representative cry used for eagles. This mismatch persists because of branding tradition, limited eagle recordings, and the sheer power of the red-tailed hawk’s piercing vocalization to symbolize fierceness and pride. Efforts to replace the scream with actual bald eagle calls aim for more biological realism, but the iconic hawk shriek is likely to remain the “eagle scream” in the public imagination for years to come. So next time you see a majestic eagle image accompanied by a screaming call, remember that cry belongs to a different bird! The true sounds of the bald eagle are more varied hoots, chirps, and rattling cries.
