Why Don't Hawks Sing?

Did you ever hear a hawk sing? Me either. Hawks pretty much have a screech (high pitch as opposed to a low pitch squawk) that is anything but musical. I wonder why that is. Most birds have melodic a song that identifies them. As a kid a mocking bird sat in the tree outside my bedroom window doing his imitation of every other bird in the neighborhood. When I had heard enough…usually around midnight I would go outside and throw a rock into the tree, chasing him to the neighbors tree where he continued his late night show. Usually by around 2 AM I would hear the crash of a bottle (and some muffled and probably unprintable words) thrown in the neighbors tree. After his brief commercial interruption, he would be back outside my window discussing whatever it is Mockingbirds talk about all night. I grew to hate that bird. Back in the 80’s I supplemented my income by raising and selling birds by the thousands. My biggest customer was a local bird of prey rehabilitation center. Their passion was to nurse injured birds of prey back to health and re-release them into the wild. To accomplish this noble goal, they had to be fed their natural food, thus my financial need became the supply for their demand. I had 5 kids I planned to release into the wild too. One summer I noticed a Ferruginous Hawk (like the one pictured above) sitting beside the road, apparently stunned. I had a cage with me and gently guided him (a guess) into it and took him home. By the time we got home the hawk had revived somewhat from what turned out to be an electrical shock. I put the cage inside a walk in cage where he could safely wait for an exam from Christi, the head of the rehab center. When I opened the door of the cage he misunderstood my intentions (or was expressing his displeasure at the accommodations) and sunk his huge talons into my boot, rubbing but not piercing my foot! Since he would not let go of my boot, I carefully slipped my foot out and let him keep it. That's when I discovered a billed creature can smirk. Examination showed he would need a few weeks to regain his strength after his episode with a high power line and was taken to the rehab center for recovery and later release back into the wild. This story came to mind this morning as I was reading of the wonders and creativity of our Father. God made so many different birds with so many different colors and songs. If you read my daughters blog you know we have LOTS of critters around our house all the time. I have noticed the quail are always chattering amongst themselves and the songs of praise can usually be heard from several different choirs around the house. Sometimes they are together around the water or in the shade of the one large pine tree, but usually they are each in their own niche. There is a family of Red Tail hawks that nest back on the hill behind me that will silence every song with just one screech. The quail quiver and hide in the bushes and the songbirds silently fade into the trees. My new favorite author, Jacobe Boheme, in commenting on Christian’s arguing about the letter of the law and their own personal favorite interpretation made a thought provoking comparison. I think William Law’s 18th century English translation of his 17th century observation is plain enough to not warrant further translation: “Yea, such Men are worse than Thistles and Thorns that grow among fair Flowers, for they at least stand still and are quiet, whereas those Wranglers are like the ravenous Beasts and Birds of Prey, which fright the other Birds from singing and praising God.”