Why Hollywood loves this creepy bird call
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Published 2021-10-13
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If you’ve seen any remotely creepy movie, you’ve heard a loon wail: that mournful, nearly human ooo-ooo-oooo. It pops up whenever a movie needs to convey melancholy or trepidation, often accompanied by a full moon or some fog. But for the most part, loons have no business being in the background of those scenes.
With the help of some internet birders, we took a deep dive (pun intended) into the world of loons to explain how Hollywood misuses this bird call — and why the wail is so haunting in the first place.
To learn more about loons and what you can do to help protect them check out the Loon Preservation Committee (loon.org/) and the Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation (www.adkloon.org/).
Check out the Switched on Pop podcast from Charlie Harding here: open.spotify.com/show/1sgWaKtQxwfjUpZnnK8r7J
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All Comments (21)
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Thanks for watching! As some of you have mentioned--the loon's isn't the only bird call that Hollywood gets wrong. That sound you hear when a bald eagle is on screen? That's a red-tailed hawk. And kookaburras are another bird whose call is used in habitats and places the kookaburra doesn't belong. Notice any others? Let us know in the comments below 👇
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It may be used in creepy scenes, but for anyone who grew up in an area where loons were common, it’s a calming, peaceful sound.
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So, basically, it is the bird equivalent of Wilhelm scream.
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I had the honor of voicing this creepy bird in Finding Dory! Andrew Stanton didn’t want me to sound anything like a loon because of how haunting an actual loon sounds, so Becky was modeled after a chicken instead.
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am I the only one who thinks it's effective because it resembles the sound made by wolves and sends you thinking about isolation and loneliness?
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As a Canadian, I can never understand why people find the sound creepy. I can only associate it with camping, fishing, hiking, hunting etc. Nothing but good times.
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The loon call is definitely a sound you feel with your whole body.
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One of the most iconic sounds in Canada. It’s not creepy at all, it is both melancholic and sooting at the same time. There is nothing better than sitting on the end of your lake dock before everyone else wakes in the morning with a cup of coffee, and listening to the loon calls over a misty covered lake. I was away from Canada for a long time and one of the first sounds I couldn’t wait to hear was the call of the loon, it immediately felt like I was home at last.
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It’s not just the notes that make it moody - you completely brushed over the way that large ponds and woodland make the sound reverberate and echo - creating an instant sense of a big empty space devoid of people.
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I’ve always thought of it as the bird equivalent to a wolf’s howl. It’s the sound in movies that resembles “you’re in the middle of nowhere” or at peace with your far off “nature surroundings”. I do recall hearing the other calls in some movies and documentaries as well. Overall pretty interesting bird.
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As a Minnesotan, loon calls are just the sound of being at the lake.
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As someone who grew up in Minnesota where there's a pair of loons on almost every lake. The loon wail is one of the most comforting nature sounds I can think of. Makes me think of a glass calm summer lake where there aren't even any boats out on the water. When they shared that the wail is the "where is everybody call?" that totally made sense. The loon wail is the psychological equivalent of a lake yawning to me. It's uh-aahhhh-uh.
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As my fellow Canadians have said below, yes: Loon sounds are very peaceful and relaxing during summertime cottage trips. Every time I hear a loon call i'm reminded of the good times spent up north with family and, honestly, I will never understand why they're used for creepy effect lol.
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Humans hearing a loon’s wail: so sad, such melancholy, so lonely Other Loons hearing a loon’s wail: “EY WHERE Y’ALL AT?”
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The classic Kookaburra call is heard in so many movies as well, particularly in jungle scenes where this bird never naturally lives
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As a Canadian who would constantly go camping at national parks, I adore the sound of a loon. Gives me so much nostalgia and I love it. And sometimes my family would recreate the wail and you’d hear the loons nearby calling back. Truly magical
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I went to college in my home state (Minnesota) and I remember in the first year, I played a loon wail for my international student friends. They said they were grateful I'd given them a heads up because if they'd heard it at night with no context it would've really freaked them out lol
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as a canadian, the loon’s call instantly takes me back to camping as a child and hearing the bird’s call float across the lake’s water just after sunset. it’s not really creepy; eerie, for sure, but quite lovely.
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Not only is it the same bird call... it's the same clip. Same bird. Most of those iconic sounds in Hollywood are old sounds on CDs, just banks of sound bites. Fascinating to listen through them all.
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Could part of its melancholy sound be attributed to the fact that it's often in the middle of a lake when it makes the sound, meaning there's always a lot of reverb (echo?) accompanying it? Whereas when we hear a crow or a robin it often has trees or buildings around it to break up that effect.
