Decoder Ring | The Wrongest Bird in Movie History

Published: Oct. 23, 2024, 7:50 a.m.

There is a prominent bird in the 2000 film Charlie\u2019s Angels that makes absolutely no sense. This so-called Pygmy Nuthatch doesn\u2019t look or sound like it should, or live where the characters say it does. The bird is so elaborately wrong that it has haunted the birding community, including Slate\u2019s very own Forrest Wickman, for almost a quarter of a century. In this episode, Forrest embarks on a wild goose chase: Why can\u2019t hundreds of filmmaking professionals with a $100 million budget accurately portray a single bird?\nThis episode was reported and written by Forrest Wickman. It was edited by Willa Paskin. It was produced by Max Freedman. Decoder Ring is produced by Willa Paskin, Evan Chung, Katie Shepherd, and Max Freedman with help from Sofie Kodner. Derek John is Executive Producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.\nIn this episode, you\u2019ll hear from Charlie\u2019s Angels screenwriters John August and Zak Penn, director McG, animal trainer Guin Dill, and sound editor Michael Benavente; and bird experts Nick Lund, Nathan Pieplow, and Drew Weber.\nIf you have any cultural mysteries you want us to decode, email us at DecoderRing@slate.com\nWant more Decoder Ring? Subscribe to Slate Plus to unlock exclusive bonus episodes. Plus, you\u2019ll access ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe now on Apple Podcasts by clicking \u201cTry Free\u201d at the top of the Decoder Ring show page. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus to get access wherever you listen.\nDisclosure in Podcast Description: A Bond Account is a self-directed brokerage account with Public Investing, member FINRA/SIPC. Deposits into this account are used to purchase 10 investment-grade and high-yield bonds. As of 9/26/24, the average, annualized yield to worst (YTW) across the Bond Account is greater than 6%. A bond\u2019s yield is a function of its market price, which can fluctuate; therefore, a bond\u2019s YTW is not \u201clocked in\u201d until the bond is purchased, and your yield at time of purchase may be different from the yield shown here. The \u201clocked in\u201d YTW is not guaranteed; you may receive less than the YTW of the bonds in the Bond Account if you sell any of the bonds before maturity or if the issuer defaults on the bond. Public Investing charges a markup on each bond trade. See our Fee Schedule. Bond Accounts are not recommendations of individual bonds or default allocations. The bonds in the Bond Account have not been selected based on your needs or risk profile. See https://public.com/disclosures/bond-account to learn more.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices