By the Wayside – Brandt’s Mountain Finch (Leucosticte brandti) by Nikhil
Have your ever listened to someone talking, but you really didn’t hear them? Maybe your mind was on something else. Have you ever listened to someone, you were hearing them, but you just didn’t get what they were saying? It just didn’t make sense to you. Well, that is where our Bird of the Bible this week gets its food.
Among rocks – Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus)
I can see you now trying to find these “Wayside Sower Birds” in your latest, up to date, birding handbook. No, these birds are mentioned in the Bible, in the Parable of the Sower. These birds are not named specifically, so it could be any kind of bird that likes to eat along the wayside of a planted field. Let’s look at what is being said about them.
Then He spoke many things to them in parables, saying: “Behold, a sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds came and devoured them. (Matthew 13:3-4 NKJV)
Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow. And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. (Mark 4:3-4 NKJV)
A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. (Luke 8:5 NKJV)
Among thorns – Citrine Wagtail (Motacilla citreola) by Nikhil
The parable goes on and tells of the seed landing on rocks, in thorn bushes and also on good ground. The Lord later explained it to His disciples as:
Therefore hear the parable of the sower: (19) When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. (20) But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; (21) yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. (22) Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. (23) But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. (Matthew 13:18-23 NKJV)
Good ground – American Yellow Warbler (Dendroica aestiva) by J Fenton
May we all receive the seed (Word of God) on good ground and not be deaf to the truth of God, letting what you hear fall by the wayside.
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Lee's Birdwatching Adventures Plus 
for chap 8 v 5 for BIRDS OF THE AIR piece i find this comment not instructive to me, you do not actually say who the birds of the air are ..would it be the evil spirits themselves..God did not make things so full of pictures and stories to confuse He gave pictures simply.
the spirit of the air is the devil.
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In the parable, the birds of the air are regular birds. Being that it is a parable and they were told to give another meaning. I quoted what Christ said about it. He called him the “wicked one.” Not sure what is confusing about that.
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Very nicely done, Miss Lee! This has always been my favorite parable told by Jesus. I see it being ‘acted out’ so vividly these days. So your post is most timely.
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