Introducing Aviary, the Shapeshifting Bird Superhero

BirdNote^®
Introducing Aviary, the Shapeshifting Bird Superhero
Written by Conor Gearin

This is BirdNote. I’m Ariana Remmel. Well, that’s what I go by in my normal life, anyway…

    [Electric bass]

I was just a mild-mannered birder going about my business when a radioactive feather mite bit me and I became … Aviary.

    [Aviary theme plays]

I realized I could now shapeshift into any of the birds I’ve seen in my travels — taking on the ultra-fast flight of a falcon…

    [Peregrine Falcon call]

Or the super-swimming skills of a penguin.

    [Splash, Emperor Penguin call, splash]

And I soon realized I had to use Aviary’s powers for good. One night I went out hoping to hear owls on the edge of town, where they’re usually easy to find.

    [Great Horned Owl calls]

But that night, they were mysteriously absent. I transformed into an owl myself to figure it out. 
    
    [Whirlwind transformation noise]

With the hi-fi hearing of an owl, a new world of sounds reached my ears.

    [Far-off sounds: a ticking clock, a dripping faucet, a faint cat meow]

And right away I heard something that didn’t seem right. A far-off banging noise…

    [Mechanical banging noise]

The hydroelectric dam upstream of town was about to collapse and unleash a flood. I flew off to warn the local authorities.

At the last minute, the engineers prevented disaster. So people’s homes and countless bird nests were safe for another day — thanks to Aviary.

    [Aviary theme plays]

Learn more about the very real superpowers of birds on our website, BirdNote dot org.

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Producer: Mark Bramhill
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Conor Gearin
Content Director: Jonese Franklin

Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Peregrine Falcon ML136378 recorded by Mike Andersen, Emperor Penguin ML389821081 recorded by Santiago Imberti, and Great Horned Owl ML195139981 recorded by Taylor Sturm.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2024 BirdNote March 2024
Narrator: Ariana Remmel

ID# aviary-01-2024-03-08        aviary-01

Reference:
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Catherine-Ortega/publication/25973…