Peregrine falcons
Confident in my decision, I smiled and scribbled down my answer and returned it to my orientation leader. On the little slip of paper, I wrote: peregrine falcon.
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| The falcon who was the main antagonist of the film Stuart Little 2 (2002) |
For most animals, I cannot remember the first time I encountered them. For example, dogs and cats are so ubiquitous, I would have first seen one when I was an infant. However, the peregrine falcon is unique because I remember exactly how I first discovered the species: when I first watched the movie Stuart Little 2 (2002). My family had the movie on VHS, and the primary antagonist of this movie is a peregrine falcon named Falcon. The movie is, of course, based off of characters from E.B. White's 1945 book Stuart Little, but it is important to note that the plot of the movie is completely different from that of the book.
Stuart Little 2 is a rare example of a sequel film that is better than the original film. The original Stuart Little film was released in 1999, and although it is a better story than the book in my opinion, it is a bit too edgy for my tastes. Its sequel, Stuart Little 2, resolves the edginess issues and makes it the heartwarming comedy that the original Stuart Little tried to be. The film stars the awesome Michael J. Fox as the voice of Stuart (you probably know Fox from his role in Back to the Future (1985) as Marty McFly), as well as the phenomenal Hugh Laurie as Stuart's father, Frederick (you probably know Laurie from his role in the television series House (2004-2012) as Dr. Gregory House – it is jarring, to say the least, to compare Laurie's role in Stuart Little to his role in House). The film explains that Stuart Little is adopted by human parents, not born directly to human parents like in the book. In the original film, Snowbell makes a deal with a bunch of other cats to get rid of Stuart, and that conflict drives much of the plot. Although Snowbell begins the film as an antagonist to Stuart, he is later reformed, and in Stuart Little 2, he becomes one of the series' protagonists. In fact, Snowbell is one of my favorite characters from the sequel film! He is downright hilarious.
In the E.B. White book, Stuart befriends a songbird named Margalo, and the two become very close friends. In Stuart Little 2, Margalo makes an appearance, but with a twist. Unlike the pure, friendly Margalo in the book, in the movie Margalo is a con artist. She works for a peregrine falcon named Falcon, stealing jewelry and other valuables from unsuspecting families' homes. (There is no falcon in the book; the antagonist of the book is Snowbell.) Orphaned as a fledgling, Margalo was raised by Falcon and works for him in exchange for a home. However, Stuart's case poses an interesting exception. Normally, Margalo just pretends to be injured and steals from the home once she gets in, but according to Margalo, Stuart is the first family to ever offer to have her live with them. It is an immensely tempting offer, and it causes her to spend more and more time with Stuart and his family, much to the annoyance of Falcon. Stuart and Margalo eventually do become close friends (his dad, Hugh Laurie, even suspects Stuart may be infatuated!). Falcon eventually loses his patience with Margalo and gives her an ultimatum: either steal Stuart's mother's wedding ring, or Falcon will eat Stuart.
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| A "blink and you'll miss it" scene: as Stuart's family scrambles to find some string to save Stuart as he's slipping down the kitchen drain, a guilt-stricken Margalo reveals to the audience that she stole the ring. As a kid, this scene completely went over my head, actually. I completely missed that Margalo took the ring and only realized it when rewatching the movie as an adult. |
Falcon isn't joking. In order to protect Stuart, Margalo steals his mother's ring. However, in doing so, she still endangers Stuart's life – Stuart volunteers to go down the kitchen drain, believing that his mother's ring fell down it. However, the string, which his father is using to lower him, breaks, and he is about to fall down the drain and into the plumbing! It is actually Margalo that saves Stuart from this predicament, and overwhelmed with guilt, Margalo decides to leave the Little household that night, without even saying goodbye. Stuart is beside himself at Margalo's sudden departure. He fears that Falcon might have gotten to her (Margalo claimed that the reason she fell into Stuart's car was because she was flying away from a falcon), so he runs away from home in search of Margalo. Now, in the book, Stuart also runs away from home in search of Margalo, but notably, by the book's end, Stuart had not yet reunited with her. In the movie, however, Stuart does actually find Margalo, and the two manage to defeat Falcon.
Falcon's character did not immediately lead to my fascination with peregrine falcons. In fact, as a kid I hated Falcon for his antagonism. It wasn't until much later, in eighth grade, when I would start to become enamored with these fearsome birds. My language arts teacher gave my class a reading diagnostics test, which was a test taken at the beginning of the year, before we've learned the material, such that when we take a similar test at the end of the year, we can measure how much we've improved. I do not typically remember the passages from my reading tests over the years, but this particular one resonated with me. It will be difficult for me to forget it.
The story is called "Albert". It was written by an American wildlife biologist named Marcy Cottrell Houle and originally published in the May 1996 publication of Cricket magazine (Vol. 23, No. 9). The story documents Houle's observations of two peregrine falcon fledglings: one named Albert, the other Leopold. Leopold was always courageous and the first to try new things, whereas Albert was more timid, less likely to do things without someone pushing him to do so.
This became problematic when it was time for Albert and Leopold to learn how to fly. Peregrine falcons don't nest in trees; instead, they make large nests called aeries on the side of cliffs and ledges. So for Albert and Leopold, their home was on quite the precipice. Leopold was unfazed. According to the story, Leopold "could hop a foot or two into the air and beat his wings so rapidly that he stayed airborne for several seconds". Albert had considerably more difficulty: "Every time he tried to fly, his legs got in the way. When he ran along the cliff, he fell down. When he tried to climb the rocks to the ridge top, he slid backward on his rear. It seemed improbable that he would ever live up to the peregrine label 'king of the air.'" Leopold eventually got adept enough with hopping around and catching air that he decided to leap off the edge of the cliff – he was flying!
This left Albert alone, still flightless. To make matters worse, Albert's timidness prevented him from getting a fair chance at the food that his father brought home for him – Leopold would always be the one to fly up and snatch it up before him. There were some days in which Albert would simply not be fed. One day, Albert's father appears with food, but instead of giving it to Albert like he normally does, he dangles it enticingly in front of the famished Albert. Overcome with hunger, Albert dashes out of the aerie and leaps off the edge of the cliff – unfortunately, Albert's flying skills are much weaker than Leopold's. Instead of receiving the food, Albert slowly falls to the ground, his wings acting more like a parachute, slowing his descent.
This was bad. The aerie is too high up for him to climb to, and I imagine it'd be nigh impossible for his father or brother to carry him back up. The only way to return to the nest would be to fly. Albert is freaking out, screeching nonstop, perhaps calling for help that we know won't come. The sun is starting to set, and soon it'll be dark. Eventually, Albert's dad returns with more food. This jolts Albert into action. In a remarkable burst of energy, Albert jumps into the air, flapping his wings as hard as he can – after considerable effort, he makes it back to the aerie! He did it! Albert was flying!
This story was short, but I was fascinated. As an eighth grader, I could empathize with Albert. I was about 13 at the time – around the age in that gray area where adults see you as more mature than a child, but not quite mature enough for your opinions to be taken seriously. I could see myself as that young bird struggling to become a fledgling. It made me think the story was too short. I wanted to learn more about Albert and Leopold. Fortunately, there is indeed more to the story.
The short story "Albert" is based on the real-life experiences of its author, Marcy Cottrell Houle. After graduating from college, Houle found herself employed by the Colorado Division of Wildlife, and her first field assignment was to observe the peregrine falcons nesting at Chimney Rock, a prominent geological rock formation in Colorado. While she was there, she tried at first to maintain a disinterested relationship with the falcons, but this effort failed, as she eventually formed enough of a bond to name the peregrine falcons of Chimney Rock. Houle named the male falcon "Arthur" and the female "Jenny". Arthur and Jenny had two children who survived long enough to fledge. Houle decided to name the two children Leopold and Albert. Indeed, Albert and Leopold from my eighth grade reading diagnostic test were actual falcons that Houle once got to know, and lucky for me, Houle recorded all of the experiences she had in her first summer with the Chimney Rock falcons in a book which she titled Wings for My Flight: The Peregrine Falcons of Chimney Rock.
Whereas the short story "Albert" was written for children, Wings for My Flight is written more for adults. In "Albert", the story is focused entirely on the falcons, but Wings for My Flight is focused on Houle's experience dealing with humans – specifically, the local community at Chimney Rock during the summer of 1975. The Chimney Rock community wanted to develop the land and build a tourist attraction, but the discovery of the peregrine aerie halted these operations. As a result, Houle was treated harshly by the Chimney Rock community. In their eyes, a couple of stupid birds stood in the way of their community's growth and development.
In reality, the situation was grave. As a result of a harmful agricultural pesticide called DDT, the peregrine falcon population in 1975 was critically endangered. Only 324 pairs of peregrine falcons were known to exist in the United States at the time, and only seven of them resided in the Rocky Mountains region, where Houle was assigned. My high school had more students than there were peregrine falcons in the entire country. It was critical that the peregrine falcons at Chimney Rock be protected and allowed to procreate, lest the peregrine population in the Rocky Mountains be diminished to zero.
I discovered through reading Wings for My Flight that there were multiple tragic details in the story of Albert and Leopold that Houle had left out in the short story "Albert". For example, in "Albert", the father was always the one to find and bring food back for Albert and Leopold. Where was the mother? Turns out, there is a very specific reason for her absence. Although Jenny, as Houle named her, was with her children for months and helped bring food back for them, she left one day and never returned. The word on the street is that someone in the Chimney Rock community shot and killed her. Arthur, Albert and Leopold's father, was apparently devastated. According to Houle, he spent days mourning, just ignoring his children, not bringing any food back for them. Houle even started to worry: was this going to last forever? Fortunately not. Arthur didn't forget about his children; after a time, he resumed his hunting and began to raise his children as a single father. Moreover, in "Albert", we only see Albert and Leopold. Turns out, at the time Jenny died, she and Arthur were raising five hatchlings. With Jenny gone, Arthur could only bring back enough food to allow two of his children to survive, whom Houle would eventually name Albert and Leopold. The other three died before Houle could name them.
Wings for My Flight was positively received by critics for the most part, but there was one reviewer who called Houle's description of the falcons too "anthropomorphic" – that is, giving human attributes to something that lacks them. I can understand where this is coming from; it's not clear that birds can feel the complex emotions like pity and love that Houle's story has us feel for Arthur, Jenny, Leopold, and Albert. However, for me, the anthropomorphism served its purpose. It drew me in and sparked a newfound fascination for peregrine falcons that I never had before. I could see myself as Houle, as Albert, as Arthur. I could feel their worry, their hunger, their sorrow. Wings for My Flight allowed me to live with the falcons as Houle did all those years ago. My gratitude for her is endless.
At first, the silhouette moving quickly in the distance did not register as anything out of the ordinary. I took it for the back-lit form of a hawk. We had plenty of redtails, ospreys, and kestrels on our Oregon island farm, and the sight of them soaring always gave me pleasure. But as this bird neared, something about its sleek, dark outline, its speed and sheer exuberance, seemed different.There was a time when Houle had been harassed day in and day out because she had been watching over a pair of peregrine falcons. She wanted to protect peregrine falcons from being erased from the Earth. Decades later, to see a peregrine falcon right outside her house – I cannot even begin to imagine what that must have felt like.
Suddenly, I stopped, unable to breathe. As the image flew overhead, I could see the smooth blue feathers, the arced, pointed wings, and the jet-black head of a peregrine falcon.