CAITLIN JOHNSTONE AUG 29, 2023 READ | LISTEN
The most distinctly American fact you will ever learn is that the piercing cry you associate with the bald eagle is actually a Hollywood invention.
Imagine the sound a bald eagle makes. Got it? Good.
Unless you’re really into birds, you probably got it wrong. The long, powerful cry you likely heard in your mind’s ear when asked to imagine the call of a bald eagle is actually the call of a red-tailed hawk, whose voice Hollywood studios have been dubbing over footage of bald eagles for generations.