On Raptors

Disclaimer: There is some blood ahead. If you have trouble with that, you should probably not continue to read. Or not look at the pictures.

“What he saw was a giant flock of birds wheeling between the two armies. He spotted eagles, hawks and falcons, along with countless greedy crows and their larger, dagger-beaked, blue-backed, rapacious cousin, the raven. Each bird shrieked for blood to wet its throat and enough meat to fill its belly and sate its hunger. By experience and instinct, they knew whenever armies appeared in Alagaësia, they could expect a feast on acres of carrion.” (pg. 604)

“Above him, the birds of prey swooped low to discover if the first course of their feast has arrived.” (pg. 610)

“Now that the fighting had subsided, the hawks and eagles, the crows and ravens, descended like a shroud over the field” (pg. 653)

I heard it once said that based on how much attention the writer pays to detail, one can determine how much they care about their book. Christopher Paolini likes to express his devotion to his work quite verbosely every time he gets the chance. He says things like “It’s like holding your newborn baby for the first time” when he talks about receiving the first copy of Eragon right before Knopf released it. He says that “when you spend so much time working on one thing, that thing becomes you.” It all sounds so nice when you hear it, but is it really true? Does Paolini really adore his great Opus so much, and is he really so dedicated to it? I want you to take a closer look at the quotes above and ponder for a moment all the things that are wrong with them. And my, there are so many.

“Eldest”, the second installment in the “Inheritance” series, was actually a turning point for me. Until then, I was a big Eragon fan. Not rabid, but a fan nevertheless. I am ashamed to admit it now, but we all make mistakes, and at the time I had read very little fantasy, basically just Tolkien and Harry Potter. I guess I am grateful to Eragon for two things – getting me to read fantasy literature and helping me to distinguish good works from… not so good. But it wasn’t until “Eldest” that I began to read Paolini with greater care and think about some things rather than swallow the book in as short amount of time as possible. It was these very quotes you can read above that made me question the quality of Inheritance, and it was these very quotes which infuriated me and made me, right in that moment, right in that spot, turn from a fan into an anti.

Because you see, I may have been an Inheritance fan for a while up until then, but I had also been something else for much, much longer – a falconer. As of now, I have spent over half of my life working with birds of prey, raising them, training, getting them to fly and to hunt, as they are supposed to. I have flown a wide variety of raptors, ranging from the little but brave kestrel to the voracious goshawk to the proud falcon. The only class of raptors missing in my list are eagles, but I think I will give it a few more years before I even think about attempting it.

But being a falconer is not that easy. What most people see – a person with a dignified predator on their fist, cooperating, trusting one another and working together – is just a tip of the iceberg. There is vast amount of knowledge one has to have before they can even attempt to take the falconers exam, which will turn them from a mere apprentice into a falconer, and, in time, maybe even into a master falconer. Despite more than ten years of being constantly around birds and learning all the time, I still feel like there is so much I don’t know and that one lifetime is not enough to learn all there is to learn about the winged predators. But what I knew at the time made me scream in rage and throw the damn red brick across the room when I got to these three quotes. Why? Let us get some facts straight first.

1. Hawks vs. Falcons

The majority of the public I deal with during the summer, when I do educational and awareness exhibits of raptors, is not aware there is even a difference between a hawk and a falcon. It’s perfectly understandable; one has enough to worry about just as it is to look up random knowledge, and that is why I am there to answer the question. So what is the difference between a hawk and a falcon?

It’s a big one. Hawks and falcons may be both members of the raptor family (Falconiformes) but they are only connected by behavior and their way of life. On a genetic level, however, there is nothing at all they have in common. They have evolved from completely different ancestors and, to put it in another way, they are two different answers to the same question. They both hunt live prey, but they take different approaches to reach this goal. Their bodies are built differently, they have different hunting tactics, and they use different skills. So to understand these differences better, let me introduce you to some of my friends:

1.1. Falcons (Falconidae)

Before I begin, let me just say one more thing – I live in Europe and my knowledge of Northern American raptors or raptors from other parts of the world is not as thorough as I would like. Most raptors I will talk about will therefore be the ones that can be found and are used in falconry around here. With that being said, let’s start:

In my humble opinion, falcons are the ultimate hunters. They possess very distinct features that separate them from all the other birds of prey. In flight, they are very hard to confuse with any other bird – they have long, pointed wings and generally short tails. Falcons were built for speed. Every single inch of their bodies, from the tip of the beak to the end of the tail, is finely tuned to reach the greatest velocity possible. They hunt by climbing to great heights, sometimes as much as three thousand feet, where they soar and search for possible prey, which in most cases would be an airborne bird. “Falcon eye” is no idle phrase.

In ideal conditions, a falcon can spot a pigeon in the air from a distance of 5 miles. When the pigeon is about 2,5 miles away, based on its movement, the falcon is able to determine whether the pigeon is handicapped in any way and based on weather conditions, speed of wind and such, whether he would be able to catch it. If the prey is in their reach and in a suitable position, the falcon folds his wings and dives into what we call a “stoop”. This is the falcons’ signature attack and it is what makes them the fastest living things ever to have appeared on the face of Earth. The title of the fastest life form this planet has ever known is currently held by the Peregrine falcon (Falco Peregrinus) which is capable of reaching speeds of over three hundred miles per hour when in the stoop. During this time, the falcon’s body is exposed to pressure as high as 25 G – forces. To compare, a pilot of a supersonic jet fighter experiences top pressures of around 8 Gs.

What would probably kill a human is what the falcons’ survival depends on. When they hit their target, it’s like a small explosion – there is a loud thud, feathers go flying everywhere, the falcon pulls out of the dive, and the prey falls limply to the ground. Usually the falcon doesn’t kill its prey with this hit. What the falcon does when hitting the prey is kick it in midair, thus throwing it off balance and sending it falling to the ground. A falcon kick is a nasty thing – they basically grab their prey with their claws and rip pieces of its flesh out in a split second. After the kick, they return to their stunned prey to deliver a death blow. Falcons are some of the most merciful killers there are – with their powerful beaks, they snap the neck, killing immediately and nearly painlessly.

First, the falcon climbs:

When it sees its prey, it banks and folds its wings:

Stooping, the falcon plummets through the air like a bullet at speeds greater than 200 mph:

The Impact. The falcon kicks its prey, throws it off balance, and sends it falling towards the ground. The sheer force of the impact is sometimes enough to kill the prey. Note tuffs of feathers in the Peregrine’s claws:

The death blow, in this case delivered by a female Peregrine:

There are several physical traits that allow falcons to live and hunt the way they do, aside from the long pointed wings and short tails that give them a perfect aerodynamic profile. For example, during the stoop, the air rushes past so fast that if the falcons were equipped with the same plain nostrils we have, the air would just rush by and the bird will not be able to breathe, which is a big problem seeing as stooping strains the bird’s body to its very limits. That’s why falcons have these little cone-like structures in their nostrils which basically pull the air in and thus allows the bird to breathe even in extreme conditions. If that sounds at all familiar, this is where the inspiration for a jet engine comes from. Remember the next time you are flying that the only thing keeping you airborne is basically just the nose of a falcon.

I mentioned their killing technique – breaking the prey’s neck with their beaks. That’s why you always have to watch out for the beak when dealing with an unruly falcon, rather than their feet. The beak is short and hooked, but to make killing even easier and faster, falcons have this strange growth on the upper jaw that looks like a tooth. This growth is called a “falcon tooth” or “tomial tooth” which helps to kill the prey faster.

Alkor, a silver gyrfalcon/peregrine hybrid (crossbreeding is only possible in controlled conditions, it does not occur in nature) displays tomial tooth, as well as falcons’ peculiar nostrils:

Falcons are primarily bird catchers, and that can be seen wonderfully on their feet – they have long, thin fingers with claws that are not so much large and powerful as they are sleek and very sharp. Their feet are mainly used to get a nice, tight hold on the prey; they don’t kill with their feet as hawks or eagles would, though they can still inflict quite a lot of damage. This is very important when not hunting in a stoop and engaging in a level flight hunt, or a tail chase. They don’t always have enough time to climb high enough to deliver the blow from above when an opportunity presents itself.

Even in level flight, falcons excel. If falcons were drivers, they would be flooded with speeding tickets – they can reach speeds as high as 100 mph in a level flight. The Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus), the largest of all falcons, is outstanding when it comes to this kind of hunting, giving falconers many headaches when they argue endlessly whether the Peregrine is the fastest in level flight or the Gyrfalcon is. Some even claim the answer is the Hobby (Falco subbueto), which by physical build and habits is some sort of a “miniature Peregrine”. Either way, the fact is that the title safely remains in the falcon family.

Saker falcon catching a pheasant in level flight:

Larger falcon species, such as the Saker (Falco cherrung) or the Gyrfalcon hunt ground animals also – rabbits or hares for example – but their primary quarry are birds, and that is what they are best at hunting. When hunting ground animals, they are still very fast, though not as powerful, and are quick to be done with their business.

1.2. Hawks (Accipiteridae)

Hawk is a rather wide and vague term. Compared to falcons, hawks are more variable when it comes to hunting habits, shapes and forms. That is why falconers distinguish several main classes of hawks:

1.2. 1. Accipiters

Typical members of this group are the Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) and the Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus). Rather than being high-speed killing machines like the falcons, the accipiters are short-distance sprinters. They inhabit forests and areas where there are trees for them to perch. When hunting, they do not soar while looking for prey; they sit and wait for something to show up and then attack instead . They hunt by ambushing, the element of surprise being their greatest weapon.

Their bodies are perfectly adjusted to the environment they live in – they have short, round wings and very long tails in order to be agile enough to maneuver between trees when chasing their prey. Falcons had to give up some of that maneuverability to gain speed; that is why very few of them dare to hunt on the ground, and they don’t ever hunt in the forest. Just as the feet of a falcon betray its field of expertise, the accipiter’s do as well.

Goshawks hunt both in the air and on the ground equally well; they do not favor one element over the other (although individual birds may have individual preferences), therefore their feet are heavier, much more powerful when it comes to brute strength, and they have larger claws. Sparrowhawks, on the other hand, being roughly the size of a pigeon, hunt other birds only, so their fingers are very, very long and thin. Though this may sound like the feet of a falcon, they are actually much longer and much thinner. Sparrowhawks’ feet may even look fragile at first glance, but they are much stronger than they seem.

The Accipiters are very aggressive. They would attack anything that moves, regardless of its size. A friend of mine once had a female Sparrowhawk who would attack deer instead of the pheasants he released her after. There is an old falconry proverb, saying – “Sparrowhawk is a little hunter with a great heart”. Truth be told, Accipiters are kind of deranged killers. They are the least intelligent of all the diurnal birds of prey, the only thing on their mind being KILL KILL KILL KILLEVERYTHING!!!!!! They can easily lose themselves in the hunt; this is why they would not hesitate to continue the chase, even in people’s backyards. This state of mind – complete focus on the kill and forgetting everything else – is called “yarak” by falconers, and only Accipiters are known to be able to enter it.

This experienced female European Goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) knows that the best way to catch a hare is to attack from above, in the hare’s blind spot, rather than from behind, where the hare can see her:

1.2. 2. Buteos

Formerly called “buzzards” in older ornithological scriptures, Buteos are very mild-mannered hawks. Once they get to know you, they have a very sweet disposition. They are very calm, level-headed, and lack that air of constant aggression Accipiters are so well-known for. Buteos are searchers rather than attackers. They mostly prey on rodents – mice, voles and such. When driving, you can often see them sitting around on the fields or flying above them, looking for an unwary mouse. They have wide, long wings and short tails which allow them to soar for hours. But they too mostly attack by ambush. Their feet are small, with short fingers and claws, but are among the most powerful of all the raptors. After a few unpleasant experiences, I have sworn to not to make fun of their tiny feet ever again, so all I’m going to say is that they actually look kind of cute. Their plumage is very soft, and when they fluff up, they look like balls of feathers – there is no need for the tough, sleek and scale – like feathers falcons are covered with, which at times create the impression of an undisturbed smooth surface, in order to generate as little air friction as possible. Buteos are not particularly fast; they are more casual hunters. They also have no trouble with scavenging, especially during the winter when mice, small rodents and reptiles are hard to find.

Danny is a Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo). Note the size of the feet in relation to the rest of the body, even though he is all fluffed up:

1.2. 3. Harris Hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus)

These guys deserve a section of their own. Falconers and orinithologists alike are even nowadays scratching their heads when it comes to them. They have traits of both the Accipiter and the Buteo, but at the same time don’t fall into either category. Their Latin name, “Parabuteo” means “higher than buzzard (Buteo)”. But apparently not quite an Accipiter either. Their figure and feet would put them into the Accipiter family without a doubt, but when it comes to their personalities – that is a whole another story.

Teddy, a juvenile male Harris Hawk:

Harris Hawks are ridiculously intelligent, probably being second only to eagles. They are the only birds of prey in the world that display social behavior – they live in these large communities where birds raise their chicks together and hunt in organized groups, not unlike wolves or killer whales. They can be found in southern parts of the Northern American continent, Mexico and northern parts of Southern America. They nest on cacti (yes, you heard me) and hate all dogs. The whole species despises dogs – large, small, it makes no difference – as long as it’s canine, they can tell and they detest it. Although with time they can learn to bear with them, they always start out as dog haters. They learn impossibly quickly, understand any concept you need them to understand, and make up new, more efficient hunting techniques literally on the go. Combine that with physical traits of an Accipiter, and you get a very efficient killer.

The only social raptors in the world welcome the presence of the other bird:

1.2. 4. Eagles (Aquila)

What are you looking at?

Though they too belong to the Accipiteridae family, just as Harris Hawks, they deserve their own section. The eagle is considered to be the ultimate falconry bird; only masters with decades of experience would dare to train one. The eagles are about as smart as German Shepherds, the most intelligent of dogs. They have broad, long wings and short tails – they are masterful soarers. They only hunt ground animals – due to their size, they are not agile enough to hunt other birds. They catch large rodents, foxes, wild cats and even deer. With my 5 feet and 5 inches of height, I am an ideal hunting size for them, which Alex, a female Golden Eagle (with birds of prey, females are ALWAYS larger than males) with seven feet of wingspan and fifteen pounds of weight lets me know every time I forget myself and get too close to her. They have large, heavy feet with huge claws and enough strength to crush a human skull as if it was an egg. In Khazachstan, Azerbaydjan and such, the Golden Eagle is up even nowadays used to hunt wolves. Yes. These birds can kill wolves. Their fierce intelligence, strength and size make them very, very dangerous predators. Keep your distance if you value your life.

Alex, a young female Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) on her first roe deer. This small Eurasian breed of deer is natural quarry of the Golden Eagles.

However, no matter what kind of hawk it is, these predators always kill with their feet – hence their strength is much greater than in those of falcons. Their prey does not die after having their neck snapped; exitus is caused by puncture wounds to vital organs and blood loss caused by their powerful talons. So though their beaks, only used for feeding, do not possess bone-snapping strength, they can out-grip falcons anytime.

2. Raptors and Inheritance – Proof that Paolini Just Doesn’t Care

2.1. The Gyrfalcon and the Hypocrisy

Now we’re through this quick course in raptors, let us return to “Inheritance”, namely, “Eldest”. I recall this “incident” when Arya finds a wounded Gyrfalcon in the forest and kills it, justifying it by saying that the bird could not have been helped and it would have died in terrible pain. There are several things wrong with that:

1. They are in the forest. Falcons do not live in forests. Remember what I said about falcons earlier – they hunt by soaring to great heights and stooping or tail-chasing their prey. Either way, they need open skies or at least a lot of space. That is why falcons nest on the ledges of cliffs or, in recent decades, roofs of buildings – there is nothing obstructing their access to the sky. If the prey seeks refuge in the woods, the falcon wouldn’t follow because they can’t maneuver very well in enclosed areas such as, oh, I don’t know, forests? Their long wings would easily get caught on a branch and get broken. Let me put it this way: if you were an F-22 pilot, where would you take your aircraft for a flight? The desert or the streets of Manhattan during the rush hour?

Birds have hollow bones in order to be light enough to fly. The only bone in a falcon’s body which is not hollow is their lower leg, which is extra dense in order to withstand the impact of the collision with their prey and is nearly unbreakable (unless the birds suffers from calcium deficiency). But other than that, falcon bones break easily. Not even an inexperienced falcon would follow anything into the woods. I remember that once when we went flying, Alkor, my falcon, got caught in the currents and, it being one his first flights, he got carried into the woods and fell to the ground there. I had to walk all the way to him because even though we saw each other, when I called, he would only run and jump towards me in the undergrowth – not even he was dumb enough to try and fly in the woods, a young, inexperienced falcon on one of his first longer flights.

But this inaccuracy I would be willing to forgive; not everybody knows these things unless they have some experience, even though doing research would make up for the lack of first-hand experience. However, I have a big problem with this:

2. The Gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus) is not only is the biggest falcon in the world; it also only lives in the arctic, around the polar circle. Since in such cold climates most bacteria, fungus and viruses die because of the cold, the Gyrfalcon has a rather weak immune system because it doesn’t need a stronger one in the conditions it lives in. That is why when the birds are brought to moderate climates or to desert areas, they get sick and die of illnesses native birds don’t even catch. People I know who handle and breed Gyrfalcons successfully around here have built special, air conditioned mews (chambers) for them, make damn sure the whole place is spotless, and feed the birds many vitamin supplements. But my point is – the Gyrfalcon is an arctic bird. It has no reason to be so far south.

This is not something only a falconer would know; this is something you can find out right after you Google “gyrfalcon”. It’s one of the first things you learn. What is this telling us? Paolini does very little to no research for his books. Oh, but my dear friends, this is just the beginning.

3. Another thing I don’t really get – since Elves are so skilled in magic and Arya is even a princess – why can’t she heal the bird? Surely mending a few broken hollow bones does not put so much strain on the magic user. And it should work because it’s magic.

In the real world, fractures of either the wing or leg are very nasty things. Since the birds have hollow bones, they heal very quickly. And very rarely correctly. A falcon with a broken wing has a very slim chance it will be able to fly ever again. With a broken leg, the risk is lower, but the limb remains fragile. In the wild, the bird would die, of course. But not fixing the break with magic if you can and when it drains very little energy makes it very hard for me to believe that Elves love nature and life as much as they claim they do. And more than that, she puts an “arrow” through the bird’s heart. When the heart is stabbed, death does not come immediately like they show in the movies. The brain is still very much alive in the fullest meaning of the word for a few more moments, meaning the synapses are still alive as well, and therefore the dying creature still feels pain. A lot of it. So when she finds a wounded bird, not only does she not help it, she doesn’t even go for the fastest and most humane way to put the creature out of its supposed misery.

If she has magic, why doesn’t she kill the bird with magic like Eragon did all those poor soldiers in the Battle of Burning Plains where he ran rampant and murder-happy? Wouldn’t that be more plausible, seeing as Elves love all living things? No. She has to fill the bird’s last conscious moments with pain and agony. Hey! Aren’t the Elves the author’s mouthpieces who voice his beliefs? So that’s why they are such hypocrites! Just as Paolini claims to love his work but doesn’t do squat to research it properly, Elves wear leather and kill animals they could help instead of just healing them! It wasn’t Arya’s leather that planted first the seeds of disbelief in my heart. It was this very scene, and they were not seeds; it was a plantation. Arya’s behavior here doesn’t exactly spell compassion and reverence for the sanctity of life Paolini Elves are so (in)famous for.

A seasoned white gyrfalcon and her human companion enjoy the last rays of the autumn sun together:

2.2. The Flock

“What he saw was a giant flock of birds wheeling between the two armies. He spotted eagles, hawks and falcons along with countless greedy crows and their larger, dagger-beaked, blue-backed, rapacious cousin, the raven. Each bird shrieked for blood to wet its throat and enough meat to fill its belly and sate its hunger. By experience and instinct, they knew whenever armies appeared in Alagaësia, they could expect a feast on acres of carrion.” (pg. 604)

Where do I even start? Let’s begin at the beginning then.

There is a giant flock of birds, some of which are hawks, falcons, eagles, crows and ravens.

First, raptors by nature are very solitary and reclusive birds. They only seek another bird during the mating season, and that only when they don’t mate for life like Peregrines or eagles. With a mate or not, they are also obsessively territorial, and any encounter with another predator trespassing on their territory WILL result in confrontation, which sometimes ends with death of one of the birds. Also, let us not forget that these are predators. Anything up to about their own size which shows signs of life is potential food. Hunting is not as easy as it sounds – generally only one out of fifteen attacks ends with a kill – so they have to take every chance they get. So yes, they would not hesitate to attack and kill even their own kind.

Cruel as it may sound, it’s true. That is why falconers only fly one bird at the time and make sure the other ones are secured, unless they are Harris Hawks, of course. Harris Hawks are the only ones who would tolerate the presence of another bird, or welcome it for that matter. The only other case of birds getting together and not ripping each other apart is migration. Some raptors do form loose groups in which they travel, but these are not flocks as such because the term flock suggests there are social ties between the members of the flock. When raptors travel together, it is only because it is convenient, and when they reach their destination, they split. Congregations of Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) on the shores of Northern America during the winter are not considered flocks either for the very same reason – they just happen to be on the same spot with the same motivation – to find food. The times are hard, meat is not easy to find, and they have bigger problems to worry about. Also, a lot depends on the temper of the bird. Bald eagles are very well-mannered and are not as aggressive as, say, the Goldens, being fish-eaters and part scavengers during the winter.

Therefore, this couldn’t possibly work – there are falcons and eagles in the flock, which would undoubtedly attack other birds, especially when there are crows and ravens, falcons’ natural quarry. If these were ever released in the same space, carnage and bloodbath would undoubtedly ensue.

A Lanner Falcon (Falco biarmicus) is chasing away the trespasser, a much larger Tawny Eagle (Aquila rapax) in a territorial dispute:

2.3. The Scavengers

All these birds are here for the carrion. I can’t even begin to tell you how messed up in every imaginable way this is. I think Mr. Paolini is confusing raptors with vultures. Because those are the ones who do nothing all day than fly around (can stay in air for hours without moving a feather) and smell – yes, smell – for some carrion. Vultures do not have very good eyesight, at least not compared to the true raptors. They don’t need it. They don’t need to react quickly to the movement of the prey trying to save its life. They have small feet and their talons are not curved – they don’t need to grab anything. Their sense of smell, however, is remarkable – they can detect a rotting corpse many miles away. Also, vultures often fly so that they can see one another in the air. When one of the vultures dives, the others follow because he had probably found something to eat. This is how scavengers behave. It is the vultures who create “congregations” around a single corpse; they chase each other away, argue and try to catch the juiciest bit of flesh.

Their heads and their necks as well are featherless because as they dig into the corpse, bits and pieces of meat would get stuck in the plumage and rot there. This, again, is easily accessible knowledge – there is the internet, but you don’t even need that. There are countless children books about animals and such. Even a little kid knows that falcon is not a scavenger. Then why does Mr. Paolini have to insult our intelligence by feeding us this ridiculous nonsense?

True, the buteos and eagles would not hesitate to scavenge if the need is dire, especially during the winter when the process of decomposition is slowed down by the cold. Heck, I even saw a kestrel recently feeding on a frozen carcass of a pigeon. But upon closer examination, I learned the meat was still crisp and red in color instead of pale brownish red, which would signify deterioration. But we are not in the middle of winter here. Let us for a moment forget that human meat is so heavy with fat and other minerals that any hawk or falcon would die after eating it due to exhaustion from trying to process it. Let us for a while ponder why some raptors can eat decomposing meat and others can’t.

It has a lot to do with metabolism and how closely it is connected to the behavior and way of life of the bird. Searchers, like the buteos, do not spend much energy getting their food, therefore their metabolism is much slower. It takes them longer to gain and lose weight and it takes them longer to digest food. That is why they can eat carrion as well. Falcons and Accipiters are attackers – they give out a lot of energy in a short amount of time, and they need to replenish it quickly. That is why they gain and lose weight very quickly. Also, the food is processed much faster, and that’s why they lack certain enzymes which would be responsible for handling the bacteria in decomposing flesh. So what would happen to a falcon if it ate dead meat? That’s right, boys and girls, the bird would become deat meat itself. Eagles are a chapter all on their own. They would eat dead meat, but only while it is not too bad yet. They are somewhere in the middle. But really bad meat would kill them as well.

On this beautiful male Peregrine falcon, note the size and shape of the feet, the figure, posture and proportions – according to Mr. Paolini they are all markings of a true scavenger:

2.4. Location, Location, Location

So here we have all these raptors, nicely together with crows, waiting for some people to drop dead so that they can eat them. What environment are we in? The Burning Plains, where poisonous gases fill the air. And yes, those are plains. So there can’t be any hawks there because those stick close to the woods. Oh, and the poisonous gases. Respiratory system failure is the leading cause of birds’ death. Their respiratory system is very intricate– it allows them to be light enough to fly and also supports their muscles with enough oxygen to stay airborne. The breathing system is so complex, it is even connected to the bones. Seriously. The air flows through some of the bones of the bird. Needless to say, this system is very fragile. If you want to scare a falconer to death, tell them you thought you heard their bird wheezing while it was breathing.

The respiratory system is susceptible to all kinds of viral, bacterial and fungal infections; these infections have a very rapid progression, and before you know it, the birds may be dead. Remember how special the nostrils of the falcon have to be in order for the bird to survive the stoop? Now imagine these birds flying around in a cloud of noxious gas. And this, again, you don’t have to be in college to know – it’s common sense. I could have saved myself all this explanation just by saying – the birds are flying above a field emitting poisonous gases. They wouldn’t survive there! Besides, raptors are very picky about the weather when it comes to flying. I had birds refusing to work and cooperate in these conditions: too hot, too cold, mist, rain, snow, too windy, not windy enough, storm, smoke in the air, strange people around (first flights), no strangers around (some of the birds just love to show off), other raptor in the air (wild one), no other raptors in the air (Harris Hawk). What do you think an exploding land with clouds of smoke and a layer of poisonous clouds rolling over it would do to their willingness to fly?

I mean, what the hell is wrong with Paolini? Doesn’t he have a bit of reason in him? How can you write something like that in cold blood? Is he so lazy that typing “raptor” in a Google search is too much of an effort for him? Whatever happened to actually doing research for your book so that you do not offend your readers with such ludicrous impossibilities? What ever happened to decent writing, to actually “caring” about what you write? But sadly, the atrocities are not over yet:

2.5. “Experience and Instinct”

“By experience and instinct, they knew whenever armies appeared in Alagaësia, they could expect a feast on acres of carrion.”

Okay, I may give him credit for that to an extent; this may be partially true. Birds are not stupid; they will learn to associate certain things with food, and based on those facts, the birds will learn when to expect it. But this would mean that certain factors would have to be present:

Location – birds are territorial, as was already said. Therefore, this event which comes before the food appears has to happen in a place where the birds live. I don’t think that enough birds to create a “flock” would live in a desolate desert-like plain which has poisonous gases shooting from the cracks (and yes, I am having a hard time getting over that). Also, only local birds would know that a certain event would mean food will be there. Birds who have seen or experienced the event in another place couldn’t possibly know it is taking place somewhere else, neither would they know where the place is, so they wouldn’t migrate to get there. Unless the birds have developed some absurdly sophisticated communication system which allows them to relay messages from one side of the continent to the other. Logic fail.

Repetition – bird would not only have to have a first-hand experience with the event/action, but in order to associate this event with food, it has to happen repeatedly, preferably in the same location. I really don’t think that so many battles happened on the Burning Plains that the local wildlife would flock there at the mere sight of armies.

Also, I find it ridiculous that the birds gather around the armies. Armies make a lot of noise – there are people yelling, horses whinnying, the whole place is very loud. Birds of prey are very shy animals; they would fly away at the merest hint of disturbance. They would be long gone before the armies would have reached their destination, not flock to wait for carrion (geez, I can’t believe I really wrote that).

3. Conclusion

Baby Kibeth expresses what raptors think of their portrayal in Inheritance:

Just look at how short the excerpt in question is. A few sentences. Yet there are so many mistakes in there it makes one cringe. Everything is wrong with these statements; there is not a single word which would be true. This essay may seem like nitpicking to some, but in fact, it really isn’t – by showing so very little attention to detail, much less to common sense and common knowledge, these few sentences show us how much Inheritance fails, even at the most basic and profound level. This is not doing research. This is not paying attention to what you write. This is simply laziness at its best. I said it before and I will say it again, the majority of information I provided is the most basic of things that can easily be found in any encyclopedia, in any biology book. And today, with access to internet, not even the more detailed information is so hard to obtain; it just takes a few clicks to find it.

What Paolini did was that he thought that having a flock of birds of prey above the plain, waiting like scavengers for scraps, would be cool, and put it there without thinking further about it. Come to think about it, too many inexplicable and ridiculous things were put into Inheritance, just because Paolini thought they “would be cool”. If nothing, this proves that he is not mature enough to call himself an author, because every author knows that sometimes you have to sacrifice a scene you really liked and really wanted to have in the story, even though it looked so good, because not only it would be pointless, but it would sometimes even violate the rules of the world and of the reason. Paolini obviously hasn’t realized this yet. The entire Inheritance series is ridden with similar scenes/events that should have been taken out during the editing process but were not because the child prodigy insisted they keep it.

True, this essay may seem petty to some, but if the author fails to care about such simple and mundane things, how does he then care about his work as a whole? What does that say about his devotion and his approach? I will let you form your own opinion on that.

Thank you for taking your time to read,

Falconempress

Sources:

Paolini, Christopher: Eldest, Corgi Books, 2005 paperback edition
Dr. Nick Fox: Understanding the Bird of Prey, Hancock House Publishers 1995
Global Raptor Information Network (GRIN): http://www.globalraptors.org/grin/indexAlt.asp

Images: Google search, Global Raptor Information Network (GRIN), personal archive

For more information about raptors and falconry visit:

http://www.peregrinefund.org/default.asp
http://www.themodernapprentice.com/index.htm
http://www.wingspan.co.nz/
http://www.nickdunlop.com/

Tagged as: Birds, Inheritance, On Raptors, Raptors, World Building

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