[Aztlan] Mexico's National Emblem - Eagle perched on the Nopal

[Rodrigo]

John Pastore wrote:
>Could not even a better case be made that the depiction of a
>scavanger about to devour its prey (serpent) as the emblem of
>a present society is "demeaning"?

If you are referring to the Mexico's National Emblem (the coat of arms in
the flag), well the bird depicted there is officially the GOLDEN EAGLE which
is NOT considered a scavenger:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_eagle

I bet you are thinking of the Crested Caracara which has been speculated is
the bird from the original Aztec legend which is where Mexico's coat of arms
originated from. Based on the Golden Eagles range and diet, one Mexican
ornithologist in 1960 suggested that the bird in the Aztec legend instead of
being a Golden Eagle was probably more likely a Crested Caracara (a bird
from the hawk family which is often considered a scavenger)

But as far as I understand what the ornithologist suggested is nothing more
than speculation and a theory which to me doesn't make much sense. 

First of all the original Aztec legend does not include the snake, nor does
the prehispanic drawings in the mendoza codex. The serpent portrayed in the
Mexican flag has It's origin in an >>ERRONEUS<< translation done by Father
Duran of the Mexicayotl chronicle which is the primary source of story.
However the ornithologist who suggested the bird in the Aztec legend is a
Caracara based some of his arguments on the fact that the caracaras diet
includes a lot of snakes. But the Mexicayotl chronicle does not mention
anything about the eagle eaiting snakes, instead it actually tells you that
the eagle ate BIRDS which is more a spcialty of other falcons, eagles and
hawks and much less common of the Caracaras whose diet consists primarly of
carrion, reptiles and insects.

Here is the part from the Mexicayotl talking about the Eagle in the nopal:

"Volvieron inmediatamente a Toltzallan, a Acatzallan, a Oztotempan y
llegaron a Acatitlan; donde se levanta el tenochtli (al borde de la cueva
vieron cuando, erguida el aguila sobre el nopal, come alegremente,
desgarrando las cosas al comer, y asi que el aguila les vio agacho mucho la
cabeza, aunque tan solo de lejos la vieron ellos), y su nido o lecho todo el
de muy variadas plumas preciosas, de pluma de continga azul, de flamenco
rojo, de quetzal, y vieron asimismo esparcidas ahi las cabezas de muy
variados pajaros, de las aves preciosas, que estaban ensartadas, asi como
algunas garras y huesos de pajaro."

The above was taken from the below link (the mistranslation about the snake
is also pointed out):

http://www.geocities.com/atl_tlachinolli2012/mexicayotl/tezozomoc.htm

Another thing to notice from the above description is that they mention
flamingo and Quetzal feathers in the Eagles nest, and well there aren't any
flamingos or Quetzales in the Valley of Central Mexico, both of those birds
live in the tropical south of Mexico, and not only that but the quetzal's
range does NOT overlap with the flamingos range. Flamingos are found in the
Yucatan Peninsula coastal lagoons and the Quetzals are found in Oaxacas,
Chiapas and Central america cloud forests (where you also don't find
nopales) Hey perhaps the Aztecs made up much of the story.

And so to conclude that the bird in the Aztec legend is a Caracara is I
think very likely wrong or in the very least assuming quite a lot. 

And not only that, if you look at the original drawing from the mendoza
codex the bird in the cactus does NOT resemble the Caracara at all, it
resembles much more a Harris hawk or for that matter a Golden Eagle. 

See for yourself, here is the original drawing in the mendoza codex, 
notice its all uniformly brown and how the beak is black with yellow skin
where it connects to the head of the bird. Also it has feathers covering
most of its legs. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:CodexMendoza01.jpg

And now here you can see several pics of the caracara found in the 
area, notice its long skinny featherless legs, white neck with a patch of
black in its forehead and a GREY beak with red skin which doesn't resemble
the drawing in the mendoza codex very much at all:
 
http://www.peregrinefund.org/Explore_Raptors/falcons/crstcara.html 

Now if you look at the golden eagle or the harris hawk, you will see it 
looks quite a bit like the drawing of the bird in the mendoza codex, at 
least much more so than the caracara. 

Harris Hawk: 
http://www.peregrinefund.org/Explore_Raptors/hawks/harrishk.html

Golden Eagle: 
http://www.avians.net/lanakila/tss/28-Golden.jpg

Anyways, I am for sure no archaeologist, just pointing out a few things. 

PS: Regardless of the origins of the national emblem, the OFFCIAL bird of
the Republic of Mexico today >>IS<< the GOLDEN EAGLE (not the Caracara)