In this post let’s investigate the name of “elegans.” Before I reveal what that means, let’s look at a few birds with “elegans” in its Scientific/Latin name.
While researching for a way to present birds from their Latin names, I checked out some of our previous posts that mentioned the naming of birds. There have been quite a few articles about this, and here is a fantastic one that William Wise wrote:
William said exactly what I was thinking “It’s all Greek to me!” He also explains about God’s Name. It NEVER changes.
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) eating by Jim Fenton
How Birds are Named explains the modern naming system that is used for birds.
“Birds have two kinds of names. One is a common, vernacular, or popular name; the other is a technical or scientific name. The first is usually given to the living bird by the people of the country it inhabits. The second is applied to specimens of birds by ornithologists who classify them.
Common names in their origin and use know no law. Technical names are bestowed under the system of nomenclature established by Linnæus and their formation and application are governed by certain definite, generally accepted rules. The Linnæan system, as it is now employed by most American ornithologists, provides that a bird, in addition to being grouped in a certain Class, Order, Family, etc., shall have a generic and specific name which, together, shall not be applied to any other animal.
Our Robin, therefore, is classified and named as follows:
The Genus and the Species names are the ones that will be emphasized in the new series, (name to be determined, any suggestions?). The recent articles and the list below are listed to acquaint you with how the Genus and Species are used in the bird names.
Stay tuned!
“I know all the birds of the mountains, And the wild beasts of the field are Mine.”
(Psalms 50:11 NKJV)
There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow.
(Isaiah 34:15a)
BALTIMORE ORIOLE upon its nest Sharon Friends of Conservation photo credit
NEST — this simple word “nest” represents an enormously important context for a bird’s early life, and for bird parents, so bird nests are critically important for the life of entire bird families. A baby bird’s beginning is experienced inside a nest. From embryonic egg to hatchling, from hatchling to fledgling, a baby bird’s life adventures are “hatched” inside a nest of some kind. Consequently, nests are the childhood homes to young nestling birds, plus parent birds repeat their multi-generational nest life as they reproduce and nurture the next generation of their own kind.
For most birds, springtime means mating, and mating time means nesting. As soon as nesting begins in earnest, everything changes. The earth becomes quieter, the sight of a bird [displaying to attract a prospective mate] rarer. Despite the seeming tranquility, there’s much ado and excitement among the birds. The joy of expressing the springtime, of finding or reclaiming a mate, has been exchanged for the silence and secrecy of very private moments as birds begin the work of creating their homes.
[Quoting Cohen, 1993, page 7.]
Do you recall the first times you ever saw a bird nest, close up? Did you realize, then, that the nest was “home” to the birds who resided therein?
rooftop nest of WHITE STORK pixy.org photo credit
And what a variety of nests there are, because God has programmed different birds to build and indwell different types of nests!
The variety of nests in the world of birds is fascinating. Numerous species build elaborate structures. The Dark-necked Tailorbird (Orthotomus atrogularis) builds its nest out of vegetable matter inside two leaves sewn together or in a single large leaf that is also sewn up with a thin length of thread; weaverbirds, and in particular the Sociable Weaverbirds (Philetarius socius), build large collective nests … certain Australian moundbirds (Megapodidae) build huge nests of earth and vegetable matter, using the heat produced as it decomposes to incubate the [compost-buried] eggs. Many species build rudimentary nests, others lay their eggs on the ground, in sand and among pebbles. … The nest is a structure used almost exclusively for reproductive purposes [or as a resting-place] …. The influences of the hormonal system combined with the physiological changes that take place in the bird’s body in the reproductive period determine the construction of the nest. The choice of the site, the materials used and the time taken to build it, and the activity of the male or female in the construction, all vary from species to species.
[Quoting Bologna, 1981, pages 39-42]
These nests must accommodate the bird family’s collective weight and activities, as well as tolerate foul weather, such as winds and precipitation. Of course, nests constructed upon or inside the ground, such as the mound-nests of the Megapode “incubator bird” (Martin, 1994, pages 43-46), need not be concerned with the weight of the nest.
Some nests are mere scrapes upon a strategic patch of ground. The Arctic Tern (Sterna paradisaea) is famous for its record-breaking migration treks, from the Arctic regions to the Antarctic regions, and vice versa (Egevang et al., 2010, page 2078), so the Artic Tern cannot afford a nest-building habit, during its breeding season (in the Arctic), that would invest too much time or material in nest-building.
ARCTIC TERN on simple nest WeForAnimals.com photo credit
Since the Arctic summer is so brief, a simple scrape that does not shorten brooding time is the best solution.
[Quoting Cohen, 1993, page 46].
Other bird nests are burrowed underground or into the side of a muddy riverbank [Peterson & Chalif, 1973, page 112; Cohen, 1993, 50-53]. In Texas prairies, for example, one such underground-dwelling bird is the Burrowing Owl (Speotyto cunicularia).
One of the strangest and most beguiling members of the owl family is the burrowing owl. It lives in a hole in the ground, often on a treeless prairie or desert, and is most frequently seen standing beside its burrow or perched on a nearby fence post. … These charming little owls breed locally in the [Texas] Panhandle and West Texas, frequently associated with prairie dog villages, where they [i.e., the burrowing owls] utilize the ready-made burrows and tunnel systems. Other adapt abandoned homes of ground squirrels and pocket gophers, enlarging them by kicking dirt backwards with their feet.
[Quoting Tveten, 1993, page 173]
Many are designed to be camouflaged or otherwise hidden. Some such tree cavities are claimed by house wrens or certain types of owls, after they are abandoned by the original tree-hole excavators (Cohen, 1993, page 58; Bologna, 1981, pages 52 & 418). However, other tree cavity nests are the products of the birds who inhabit them after they peck them into existence, in the sides of trees or cacti (Shunk, 2016, page 15), such as tree cavity nests of the Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus).
PILEATED WOODPECKERS in tree cavity nest Steve large’s Wildlife Blog photo credit
For secrecy, few hiding places can compare to a tree cavity. … Usually, the foliage of surrounding trees provides ample camouflage; sometimes height is the great advantage. No matter the case, birds nesting in tree cavities are safe from most predators—except tree-climbing snakes and an occasional agile mammal. A tree must be large and structurally sound enough to support a cavity, especially when carved by the Pileated Woodpecker [Dryocopus pileatus]. The Pileated digs a hollow up to two feet into the tree, although the 3½-inch entranceway is only a fraction [of] that size. The Pileated Woodpecker is [providentially] equipped with one of the strongest beaks of all birds, yet excavating comes as no easy chore. The process takes days, and is completed mostly by the male with some assistance from his mate. Many choose dead trees, but even so their efforts may be frustrated by a particularly recalcitrant tree.
[Quoting Cohen, 1993, page 54]
Some bird nests are tree-nestled demitasses, such as large cup-shaped nests of the American Crow (Corvus brachyrynchos), the medium-sized cup-nests of the Magnolia Warbler (Dendroica magnolia), and the fragile mini-nests of most hummingbirds, including the Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus).
RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD in nest AnimalSpot.net photo credit
RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD: Nest of downy plant fibers and moss, covered with lichens, held together with spider’s silk; placed on downward-sloping limb of tree or shrub.
[Quoting Stokes & Stokes, 1996, page 263]
Even the most careful observer would be challenged to locate a hummingbird’s nest. This smallest of [bird] nests is nearly impossible to find, not only because of its size [~2 inches diameter/width of nest exterior, with ~1 inch diameter/width of nest’s inner cup], but as a result of the plant camouflage the female incorporates into the structure. Because of the importance of camouflage, males are not welcome visitors to the hummingbird nest. Their bright colors draw too much attention and might endanger the offspring, so they take no part in nest-building, incubation, or chick-rearing. Often they return after the chicks are fledged and help produce a second brood in the same season. … Not every bird could manage a cup nest. Because of the high walls [which prevent the nestling young from tumbling out by accident], a cup must be entered from above, a feat best accomplished by skilled aviators such as songbirds. Master of wing control [as demonstrated by multi-directional flight and hovering], the hummingbird is a natural cup nester.
[Quoting Cohen, 1993, page 64]
Since hummingbirds are tiny birds, it is unsurprising that their nests are likewise (realtively) tiny. However, hatchling hummingbird young do more than eat in those tiny nests—they also learn about life, especially from parental teaching:
The staff at ICR [i.e., the Institute for Creation Research] … noticed months ago that an adult bird was weaving a nest on a palm frond. Being a science organization and lovers of God’s living creation, we closely followed the maternal events as they unfolded. The tiny eggs hatched and in due time, the two rapidly-growing hatchlings were literally bursting from the confines of their nest. It was interesting that the mother, perched on a nearby branch (always the same one), would intently watch her little ones in the nest. She would occasionally zoom around the nest, showing her crouching, bewildered offspring that “this is how you do it!”
[Sherwin, 2006]
Other bird nests are quite roomy, resembling hanging sacks or book-bags, such as the pocket-like sack-nest of the Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula).
BALTIMORE ORIOLE above nest Carol Smith / Carol’s View of New England photo credit
Orioles are as well known for their nests as they are for any other aspect of their behavior. The nest is a long woven sack, suspended from the tip of a drooping branch. These nests are obvious in winter, especially hanging over roads, and it’s always interesting to see how many Orioles actually nested in your area, even though you were unaware of them during the breeding season [which is when the orioles’ family privacy is most important!]. Usually the female builds the nest. First a few long fibers are attached to the branch and looped underneath. After that, she brings other fibers one at a time and pushes them through one side, and then arbitrarily pulls fibers in from the other side. The actions [appear] random … [yet] she gradually creates a suspended mass of material. Then, entering from near the top, she lines it with soft material such as feathers, grasses, wool, and dandelion or willow fuzz. The nest can take from five to eight or more days to complete. Orioles usually build a new nest each year, but in some instances they have been known to repair old nests. When building a new nest, they frequently take [and recycle] material from one of their old nests or some other bird’s nest.
[Quoting Stokes & Stokes, 1983, page 231]
Some bird nests are mostly reshaped mud, such as the pottery-like mud-ness of the Rufous Ovenbird (Firnarius rufus), the Cliff Swallow (Hirundo pyrrhonota), the Bank Swallow (Riparia riparia), and the Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber).
BANK SWALLOWS with nesting bank-side cavities Annandale Advocate photo credit
BANK SWALLOW (a/k/a SAND MARTIN): It usually nests near water in holes in steep banks [e.g., inside a nesting hole within a muddy riverbank], either natural or artificial, of earth or sand. The hole is made by both adults and ends in a wider space [e.g., a pocketed riparian mudbank cavity], where the female lays clutches of 3-7 eggs (most often 4 or 5). Both sexes incubate the eggs for 12-16 days. The nidicolous [i.e., nesting for a long time before fledging] nestlings are reared by both parents and stay in the nest for about 19 days [which is a relatively long time before fledging]. They feed on flying insects.
[Quoting Bologna, 1981, page 353]
Mud is an excellent choice of nesting material. When it is cemented into place, mud creates a sturdy nest that is nearly impermeable to any threat but rain, at least for the time needed to raise a family of chicks. Cliff SwallowsHirundo pyrrhonota) build their nests as do most other mud-nesters, in stages. As many as one thousand [1,000!] mud pellets, each carried separately to the site and placed in layers, are needed to complete the task. Before each succeeding [mud-nest] layer can be added, the previous one must dry completely [unlike brick masonry courses constructed by human bricklayers!]. Too much weight, and the nest could topple over. The whole tasks needs about two weeks to complete and may take even longer during periods of drought or too much rain. A mud hole seems almost alive when dozens of Cliff Swallows are jockeying for the choicest mud they can find.
[Quoting Cohen, 1993, page 74]
Some bird nests are located on shorelines of freshwater or brackish water, such as nests of Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) and nests of Common Loon (Gavia immer). Likewise, some birds nests are located on oceanic beaches and rocky seashore cliffsides, such as nests of Red-legged Kittiwakes (Rissa brevirostris) and nests of Thick-billed Murres (Uria lomvia).
Many aquatic birds build their nests very close to or just on top of the water. Some birds, such as coots, build their own private nest islands on the water, while grebes anchor floating platforms to a nearby water plant. As long as the eggs stay dry (and out of the jaws of a predator), the unhatched chicks remain safe. … Though loons fish in both fresh and salt water, they nest near fresh water [usually lentic freshwater, such as ponds and lakes] only. Free of the currents and tidal motion of seawater, the calmer waters of inland lakes are easier for neonates to negotiate while learning the diving techniques crucial for their adult survival.
[Quoting Cohen, 1993, page 78]
The [Common Loon] nests are usually sheltered by surrounding vegetation and upon first being built are right at the water’s edge. …. Nests are built of earth, grasses, moss, [and/or] dense floating vegetation. Little in the way of a nest is built before the eggs are laid. The nest at this time is usually only a little depression in the substrate with a small amount of [added] material collected around it.
[Quoting Stokes & Stokes, 1989, page 18]
They [i.e., Double-crested Cormorants] nest in colonies, their stick nests usually in cottonwoods near or over water. Cormorants are abundant on the lakes and reservoirs of eastern Colorado in summer; a few remain in winter.
[Quoting Gray, 1998, page 27]
Some bird nests are in rocks, often at high altitudes.
The vivid description in [verses 27-28] Job 39 must surely refer to the griffon-vulture [Gyps fulvus]: ‘Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high? She dwelleth and abideth on the rock, upon the crag of the rock, and the strong place.’ This passage well describes a typical nesting-site.
[Quoting Cansdale, 1976, page 144].
The size of Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) nests is impressive—some eagle nests are built to colossal sizes, more than 12 feet deep, 8 feet wide, and weighing up to a ton!
[Cohen, 1993, pages 62-63].
The Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) uses a platform nest as its base and then builds a more complicated cup nest into the surface. If disturbed during egg-laying or early chick-rearing, a Bald Eagle pair may abandon tis nest. [Quoting Cohen, 1993, page 62]
[Quoting Cohen, 1993, page 62]
Eagles—like many other territorial birds of prey—often nest far from other eagles, yet this is obviously not characteristic of Bald Eagle populations along the coasts of Southeastern Alaska (Kavanaugh, 1997, page 59; personal observations during summer itineraries aboard cruise ships, serving a historian/naturalist, during AD2000, AD2001, and after).
Thousands [of Bald Eagles, migrating seasonally to the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve] congregate to feed on spawning salmon in the Chilkat [River] Valley in autumn and early winter.
[Quoting Kavanaugh, 1997, page 59]
Many bird populations nest in colonies, with some wading bird colonies called “rookeries” (Griggs, 1997, page 41), in keeping with other gregarious habits that justify the old saying: “birds of a feather flock together”. Such gregarious behavior certainly includes the wonderful icterids we call grackles, often seen congregating in or above parking lots, such as the Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) and the Great-tailed Grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus).
Grackle nest-building may occur over a period of up to six weeks or even more, and in these extended cases seems to be closely tied with pair formation. Grackles are somewhat colonial in their nesting habits, many pairs often nesting in the same area. After a pair have become established they spend most of their time at a breeding site, first just exploring: visiting old nests and hopping about prospective nest sites. During these activities [as with similar activities by human pairs] the female is always in the lead.
[Quoting Stokes,1979, page 296]
Thus, for God’s multitude of bird varieties God programmed those birds to make and to use a prodigious variety of bird nests. This fits God’s Genesis Mandate, for birds to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth — because biodiversity is enhanced by a variety of habitats to house that biodiversity (Johnson, 2012a, pages 10-12).
Many bird nests (such as hummingbird nests) go unnoticed by human eyes, yet our Heavenly Father always notices and cares about bird nests, everywhere and at all times, because He cares about the birds whose needs are met by those nests.
Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
(Matthew 10:29)
The diversity of avian nesting habits displays God’s love for variety (Johnson, 2012b, pages 8-9), as one would expect, since we see countless proofs of God’s love of variety in how animals (including birds of all kinds) are fruitful, multiply, and fill niches all over the earth (Johnson, 2012a, pages 10-12).
Accordingly, expect to find variety in bird nests.
A hummingbird hovers over a spider’s web, spending several seconds latching onto a thread of silk [to be incorporated as stabilizing material for the hummer’s coin-sized nest]. A woodpecker suspends his tree-drumming and instead works on excavating a nest hole with his mate. A shorebird slinks into a quiet area unnoticed and lays her single egg on [a strategically selected patch of] bare sand. In the privacy of their own world[s], often far beyond human ken, birds settle down to build their nests and breed young.
[Quoting Cohen, 1993, page 7.]
The importance of bird nests is no surprise, because nest life is at the heart of a bird population’s critical habitat. Nest life is where a parental generation of birds facilitate the launching of the next (i.e., filial) generation of those birds [Bologna, 1981, pages 37-45; Cohen, 1993, pages 7-8.]
But, the physiology of birds requires a nest life that differs from many non-birds, because birds (including pre-hatched birds) are warm-blooded animals.
What makes birds different from other egg-laying creatures is that the embryo inside each egg is as warm-blooded as a human, and like a human, requires the warmth provided by its parent, or by an adequate substitute, to develop and to thrive. Because it is so fragile, the egg must be coddled in a secure place until its occupant is ready to leave and face the rigors of the outside world. Encased in its [calcium carbonate-structured] shell, the tiny chick’s only hope is that its parents [or foster-parents] do know what is best. The nest the adult birds provide furnishes the warmth and protection necessary for the chicks’ survival.
[Quoting Cohen, 1993, page 8.]
Nests are so important, because God made them to have useful value, so we should expect them to be mentioned within the HOLY BIBLE’s pages. And, sure enough, the holy Scriptures refer to bird nests, repeatedly. A few such examples follow.
Before reviewing those examples, however, it is worth noticing that the usual Hebrew noun translated “nest” is qên (Wigram, 20123, page 1111), which first appears in Genesis 6:14 (referring to “homes” aboard Noah’s Ark), where the King James Version of the English Bible translates it as “rooms”. Yet, even in that Ark housing context, a qên was one of many temporal “homes” (i.e., onboard chambers, like “cabins” or “staterooms” within an ocean-faring cruise ship), used for security and protection from hostile external conditions.
Based upon etymologically related Hebrew words (Wigram, 20123, pages 1111-1112), it appears that the underlying connotation is the idea of specifically claimed property (i.e., acquired and possessed as “private” property) that belongs to a specific individual, or to a specific group (such as a specific family).
Accordingly, the Hebrew words for “nest” (both as a noun and as a verb) denote the structural home of a bird family, that belongs to that bird family—the family nest is specifically claimed property (i.e., acquired and possessed as “private” property), situated within the bird family’s ecological neighborhood.
Location, location, location: where you nest matters!
Where a bird nest is positioned is important. Maybe the best place for a nest—such as an Osprey nest—is high upon a relatively inaccessible rocky clifftop, or within the higher branches of a tall tree (Stokes & Stokes, 1989, page 163).
And he looked on the Kenites, and took up his parable, and said, ‘Strong is thy dwelling-place, and thou puttest [i.e., you position] thy nest in a rock.’
(Numbers 24:21, with “nest” [qên] as noun)
And for many large birds of prey, such as eagles, nesting in high places is the way to go. (Perhaps such birds feel “high and mighty”!)
Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, who holds the height of the hill; though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the Lord.
(Jeremiah 49:16, with “nest” [qên] as noun)
Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord.
(Obadiah 1:4, with “nest” [qên] as noun)
Woe to him that covets an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil! )
(Habakkuk 2:9, with “nest” [qên] as noun)
No need for humans to feel “high and mighty” – God resists the proud but he upholds the humble-hearted. (And pride routinely “goeth” before a fall.)
2. Multi-generational reproductive success is priority!
Birds of prey include hawks, eagles, owls, and more.
Yet birds themselves are often prey to predators of many kinds, including humans who eat birds, both domesticated and wild—such as chicken, turkey, goose, and the eggs fo many kinds of birds. But if one generation of predators greedily consumes all of a prey population, the next generation of those predators would be deprived of a food source, which would be harmful to both the predator population and the prey population.
Accordingly, it is good for a generation of predators to only eat a limited amount of a prey population, so that future generations of both predators and prey can benefit (from continued reproductive success of the prey population. That stewardship principle—applying restraint in lieu of greedy wastefulness—is what Moses commanded the Israelites as a conservation law for their future entry into and settlement in the Promised Land of Canaan.
If a bird’s nest chance to be before thee in the way in any tree, or on the ground, whether they be young ones, or eggs, and the mother sitting upon the young, or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the mother with the young; but thou shalt in any wise let the mother go, and take the young to thee; that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong days. (Deuteronomy 22:6-7, with “nest” [qên] as noun)
(Deuteronomy 22:6-7, with “nest” [qên] as noun)
3. Nests are where good parenting is needed!
How eagle parents treat their young has been a subject of some confusion over the years, due to a less-than-clear-and-accurate translation of Deuteronomy 32:11. That confusion has already been addressed in an earlier article (Johnson, 2020, pages 57-59) examining that all-too-often misinterpreted passage, so that discussion will not be repeated here.
Suffice it to say, here, that eagle parents care for their young! Like many (but not all) animal parents, eagle parents go to great efforts to raise their nestling children, training them, from hatchlings unto fledglings, for their future lives.
As an eagle, he [i.e., God, in relation to His people Israel] stirs up his [i.e., God’s] nest, he {i.e., God] flutters over his [i.e., God’s] young, he [I.e., God] spreads abroad his [i.e., God’s] wings, he [i.e., God] taketh them, he [i.e., God] bears them [i.e., the Israelites as God’s people] on his [i.e., God’s] wings….
(Deuteronomy 32:11, literal translation, with editorial clarifications: “nest” [qên] as metaphoric noun)
This is comparable to how the Lord Jesus Christ compared His willingness to protect Jews to a mother hen’s protectiveness, as demonstrated in her welcoming and refuge-providing wingspread, noted in Matthew 23:37 and also in Luke 13:34.
4. Nests should be places of domestic security: “home sweet home”.
Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand.
(Job 29:18, with “nest” [qên] as noun)
The patriarch Job, unto his “friendly” counsellors, once lamented his former life of blessing, before his torturous trials were suddenly dumped upon his head. Job related how he expected to live a long life of uninterrupted blessing, ultimately dying at peace in his own “nest” (i.e., “home sweet home”). But, God had other plans—ultimately better (albeit bumpier) plans for Job’s earthly pilgrimage.
5. The ability, of birds to make nests, is God-given, i.e., God-programmed.
Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high?
(Job 39:27, with “nest” [qên] as noun)
The eagle was designed (i.e., pre-programmed) with built-in abilities and inclinations, endowed at creation by the Lord Jesus Christ, to make its nest in high places (Obadiah 1:4), and to mount up into the air suing thermal air currents.
The eagle did not invent these purposeful traits; God designed the eagle’s physical traits and its pre-programmed abilities, including the know-how (and the how-to) needed for successfully building eyries atop high montane places or in tall trees. For more on this Scripture about eagle behavior, see an earlier CRSQ article (Johnson, 2021, page 290).
6. Nests are for raising children, i.e., the next generation.
Yea, the sparrow hath found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King, and my God.
(Psalm 84:3, with “nest” [qên] as noun)
Notice that the sparrow’s “house” is parallel in meaning to the “nest’ of the swallow. In other words, a “nest” is a “house” for dwelling in, and especially for raising young in.
7. Particular types of nests are selected according who will be living therein.
Where the birds make their nests: as for the stork, the fir trees are her house.
(Psalm 104:17, with “nest” [qânan] as verb)
In the above-quoted psalm we are reminded that storks are known to make their homes within the branches of fir trees. Storks are also known as predictable migrants—see Jeremiah 8:7 (Johnson, 2013).
8. Wandering from the security of the nest can lead to many dangers.
As a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man that wanders from his place.
(Proverbs 27:8, with “nest” [qên] as noun)
For it shall be, that, as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, so the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon. (Isaiah 16:2, with “nest” [qên] as noun)
One of the advantages of many bird nests is camouflage—being hidden from the sight of hungry predators. There is a security that comes with staying inside one’s proper home. Not that any home (or nest) is “bulletproof” from danger, but there are often many more dangers lurking about, the farther that one wanders away from home. (The same is true for young who are expelled from home.)
Consequently, the high mortality rate is why birds routinely try to raise more hatchlings than themselves. In other words, two parent birds need to strive for replacing themselves with more than just two children, in order to mitigate the risks that their progeny will become prey (literally “dead meat”) before they progeny can successfully reproduce the next generation.
[NOTE: the overall concept of multi-generational replacement, as a matter of population biology, is discussed in my population biology article “Post-Flood Repopulation: From 8 to 8,000,000,000!” posted at www.icr.org/article/post-flood-repopulation-from-8-8000000000.]
9. Bird eggs are a valuable source of good (i.e., nutritionally rich) food.
And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathers eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped.
(Isaiah 10:14, with “nest” [qên] as noun)
Isaiah stated the obvious—eggs are valuable; in fact, they are like a store of “riches”, nutritionally speaking. This nutrition fact concurs with the mention of eggs as a “good” food, in contrast to bad food. See Luke 11:11-13, where giving eggs to eat is recognized (by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the Creator of all food) as “good gifts to your children”.
10. Places are recognized as “wild places”, if dominated by many predators.
There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow; there shall the vultures also be gathered, everyone with her mate.
(Isaiah 34:15, with “nest” [qânan] as verb)
Isaiah’s somber prophecy warns that God will be judging (i.e., punishing) the Edomites, because of the Edomites’ wicked mistreatment of Israelites (see Isaiah 34:6-8); the resultant judgment includes severe desolation of the Edomites’ land—which desolation shall include Edomite lands becoming overtaken by birds of prey (see Isaiah 34:10-16). Because Edomite lands, in the prophesied future, will be dominated by nests of predatory animals—including predatory birds—such lands will become “wild places” (i.e., wildernesses), not fit for human habitation.
11. Flexibility increases opportunities to “fit” and “fill” different situations.
O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that makes her nest in the sides of the hole’s mouth.
(Jeremiah 48:28, with “nest” [qânan] as verb)
For example, doves (which include pigeons), are famous for resiliently adjusting themselves to the most diverse of habitats–this is a behavioral trait that this writer has observed frequently, over the years–even in the most unlikely of habitats. Decades ago, this writer (with family members) was exploring an underground “lava tube” cave at Craters of the Moon–a park (designated as a “national monument”), in Idaho. Inside this most ecologically inhospitable venue, perched within a crack in the cavernous ceiling, there was a nest with two pigeons therein! Doves can live successfully almost anywhere – they are peaceful, yet flexible and opportunistic “generalists”.
12. Tree branches are often a hospitable home for nesting birds.
All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations.
(Ezekiel 31:6, with “nest” [qânan] as verb)
The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth, whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation.
(Daniel 4:20-21)
Even in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream he recognized that tree branches (a/k/a boughs) are good sites for bird nests!
13. Nests, although sturdy and secure, are only temporal.
Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord.
(Obadiah 1:4, with “nest” [qên] as noun)
Eagle nests are sturdy and secure – setting records for their size and weight (as noted above) – yet they too are, after all, only temporal. This provides a good reminder about this passing world. This world will “groan” till the Lord Jesus cancels the curse of sin and death (Romans 8:22-23; 1st Corinthians 15). Till then, we too “groan” (2nd Corinthians 5:2-4).
14. Christ prepared for bird homes via nesting habitats and nesting skills.
And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
(Matthew 8:20, with “nests” [κατασκηνωσεις] as noun)
And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
(Luke 9:58, with “nest” [κατασκηνωσεις] as noun)
Behold the kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ: He did not insist on having a “home” when He came to Earth to be our Savior. Christ was goal-oriented, undistracted, and not fixated on the things of this passing world.
However, as our kind Creator, He even prepared fitting homes for His multifarious animal creatures, such as foxes and “birds of the air”. Speaking of “home”, it is the very Creator-Redeemer, our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is our true home.
Accordingly, settling (domesticating) specific niches in the earth—even migratory stopover homes—and utilizing home bases for family life activities is needful to fill the multitude of Earth’s multifarious habitats. To achieve this goal, God has providentially equipped creatures with physical bodies (with helpful anatomies and physiologies) and programmed bio-informational instructions (coding and equipping for habitat-interactive behaviors) that are fitted to the dynamic challenges of physical environments (and biotic communities) all over the globe. As earthbound pilgrims, we pass through this mortal life (Hebrews 11:13; 1 Peter 2:11), interfacing with an all-too-often hostile culture (Hebrews 11:36-38). We long for a truly secure home—where we really belong. But, as Christians, what is our true home? It is not residential real estate housing (Philippians 3:20; Hebrews 11:8-14). Our true homes are not even the earthly bodies that we temporally inhabit, although they are the “tents” we know best (2 Corinthians 5:1-4; 2 Peter 1:13). For Christians, ultimately, our real eternal home is God Himself (Psalm 90:1; 2 Corinthians 5:6; John 14:2-6). As our Creator, He started us. As our Redeemer, we finish with Him. What a homecoming we wait for!
{Quoting Johnson, 2015, page 20)
Maybe there are more examples, of bird nests being mentioned in Scripture. But, at least, the examples listed above show that bird nests are important, so important (to God) that they merit repeated mention, in the only book that God Himself wrote.
REFERENCES
Bologna, Gianfranco. 1981. A Guide to Birds of the World. English translation by Arnoldo Mondadori. Fireside Books / Simon & Schuster, New York, NY.
Cansdale, George S. 1976. All the Animals of the Bible Lands. Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI.
Cohen, Sharon A. 1993. Bird Nests. Harper Collins, San Francisco, CA.
Egevang, Carsten, Iain J. Stenhouse, Richard A. Phillips, & Janet R. D. Silk. 2010. Tracking of Arctic terns (Sterna paradisaea) reveals longest animal migration. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 107(5):2078-2081.
Gray, Mary Taylor. 1998. The Guide to Colorado Birds. Westcliffe Press, Englewood, CO.
Griggs, Jack. 1997. All the Birds of North America. Harper Collins, New York, NY.
Johnson, James J. S. 2020. Clarifying Confusion about Eagles’ Wings. CRSQ. 57(1):57-59 (summer 2020).
Johnson, James J. S. 2021. Doxological Biodiversity in Job Chapter 39: God’s Wisdom and Providence as the Caring Creator, Exhibited in the Creation Ecology of Wildlife. CRSQ. 57(4):286-291 (spring 2021).
Kavanaugh, James. 1997. The Nature of Alaska: An Introduction to Familiar Plants and Animals and Natural Attractions. Waterford Press, Blaine, WA.
Martin, Jobe. 1994. The Evolution of a Creationist. Biblicla Discipleship Ministries, Rockwall, TX.
Peterson, Roger Tory, & Edward L. Chalif. 1973. A Field Guide to Mexican Birds Houghton Mifflin, Boston, MA.
Sherwin, Frank. 2006. Hummingbirds at ICR. Acts & Facts. 35(9):unpaginated.
Shunk, Stephen A. 2016. Peterson Reference Guide to Woodpeckers of North America. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, MA.
Stokes, Donald. 1979. Stokes Guide to Bird Behavior, Volume I. Little, Brown & Company, Boston, MA.
Stokes, Donald, & Lillian Stokes. 1983. Stokes Guide to Bird Behavior, Volume II. Little, Brown & Company, Boston, MA.
Stokes, Donald, & Lillian Stokes. 1989. Stokes Guide to Bird Behavior, Volume III. Little, Brown & Company, Boston, MA.
Stokes, Donald, & Lillian Stokes. 1996. Stokes Field Guide to Birds: Western Region. Little, Brown & Company, Boston, MA.
Tveten, John L. 1993. The Birds of Texas. Shearer Publishing, Fredericksburg, TX.
Wigram, George V. 2013. The Englishman’s Hebrew Concordance of the Old Testament, 3rd edition. Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody, MA (originally published in 1874, by Samuel Bagster & Sons, London, UK).
BALTIMORE ORIOLE female weaving a nest (BirdNote.org photo credit)
And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. (Luke 9:58)
Hungry nestlings! (WhirlyBird photo credit)
NEST – this simple word “nest” represents an enormously important part of a bird’s life.
Do you recall the first times you ever saw a bird nest, close up? Did you realize, then, that the nest was “home” to the birds who resided therein?
A baby bird’s beginning is experienced inside a nest. From embryonic egg to hatchling, from hatchling to fledgling, a baby bird’s life adventures are “hatched” inside a nest of some kind. Consequently, nests are the childhood homes to young nestling birds, plus parent birds repeat their multi-generational nest life as they reproduce and nurture their own next generation of their kind.
For most birds, springtime means mating, and mating time means nesting. As soon as nesting begins in earnest, everything changes. The earth becomes quieter, the sight of a bird [displaying to attract a prospective mate] rarer. Despite the seeming tranquility, there’s much ado and excitement among the birds. The joy of expressing the springtime, of finding or reclaiming a mate, has been exchanged for the silence and secrecy of very private moments as birds begin the work of creating their homes.
And what a variety of nests there are, because God has programmed different birds to build and indwell different types of nests.
Some nests are mere scrapes upon a strategic patch of ground. Other nests are burrowed underground. Many are designed to be camouflaged or otherwise hidden. Some nests are tree-nestled demitasses. Some nests are holes on the sides fo trees or cacti. Some nests are mostly reshaped mud. Some nests are located on shorelines of freshwater, brackish water, or oceanic seashores. Some nests are in rocks, often at high altitudes.
Many bird nests go unnoticed by human eyes, yet our Heavenly Father always notices and cares about bird nests, everywhere and at all times.
Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. (Matthew 10:29)
The diversity of avian nesting habits displays God’s love for variety, as one would expect, since we see countless proofs of God’s love of variety in how animals (including birds of all kinds) are fruitful, multiply, and fill niches all over the earth. [See JJSJ, “Valuing God’s Variety”, posted at www.icr.org/article/valuing-gods-variety — see also JJSJ, “God Fitted Habitats for Biodiversity”, posted at www.icr.org/article/god-fitted-habitats-for-biodiversity .]
ROBIN NEST (Bird Barrier photo credit)
Accordingly, expect to find variety in bird nests.
A hummingbird hovers over a spider’s web, spending several seconds latching onto a thread of silk [to be incorporated as stabilizing material for the hummer’s coin-sized nest]. A woodpecker suspends his tree-drumming and instead works on excavating a nest hole with his mate. A shorebird slinks into a quiet area unnoticed and lays her single egg on [a strategically selected patch of] bare sand. In the privacy of their own world[s], often far beyond human ken, birds settle down to build their nests and breed young. After mating takes place, attracting attention is no longer a priority. Instead it is protecting the nest and incubating eggs that matter. All living beings are driven to reproduce, and most lay eggs. What makes birds different form other egg-laying creatures is that the embryo inside each egg is as warm-blooded as a human, and like a human, requires the warmth provided by its parent, or by an adequate substitute, to develop and to thrive. Because it is so fragile, the egg must be coddled in a secure place until its occupant is ready to leave and face the rigors of the outside world. Encased in its [calcium carbonate-structured] shell, the tiny chick’s only hope is that its parents [or foster-parents] do know what is best. The nest the adult birds provide furnishes the warmth and protection necessary for the chicks’ survival.
Nest are so important – because God made them to have value — that we should expect them to be mentioned within the HOLY BIBLE’s pages.
Sure enough, the holy Scriptures refer to bird nests, repeatedly. A few such examples follow.
Before reviewing those examples, however, it is worth noticing that the usual Hebrew noun translated “nest” is qên, which first appears in Genesis 6:14 (referring to “homes” aboard Noah’s Ark), where the King James Version of the English Bible translates it as “rooms”. Yet, even in that Ark housing context, a qên was one of many temporal “homes” (i.e., onboard chambers, like “cabins” or “staterooms” within an ocean-faring cruise ship), used for security and protection from hostile external conditions. Based upon etymologically related Hebrew words it appears that the underlying connotation is the idea of specifically claimed property (i.e., acquired and possessed as “private” property) that belongs to a specific individual, or to a specific group (such as a specific family).
Location, location, location — where you nest matters!
Where a bird nest is positioned is important. Maybe the best place for a nest—such as an Osprey nest—is high upon a relatively inaccessible rocky clifftop, or within the higher branches of a tall tree. [See Donald Stokes & Lillian Stokes, A GUIDE TO BIRD BEHAVIOR, Volume III (Little Brown & Co., 1989), page 163.]
And he looked on the Kenites, and took up his parable, and said, ‘Strong is thy dwelling-place, and thou puttest [i.e., you position] thy nest in a rock.’ (Numbers 24:21, with “nest” [qên] as noun)
And for many large birds of prey, such as eagles, nesting in high places is the way to go. (Perhaps such birds feel “high and mighty”!)
Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the Lord. (Jeremiah 49:16, with “nest” [qên] as noun)
Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the Lord. (Obadiah 1:4)
Woe to him that covets an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil! (Habakkuk 2:9, with “nest” [qên] as noun)
No need for humans to feel “high and mighty” – God resists the proud but he upholds the humble-hearted. (And pride routinely “goeth” before a fall.)
2. Multi-generational reproductive success is priority!
Birds of prey include hawks, eagles, owls, and more. Yet birds themselves are often prey to predators of many kinds, including humans who eat birds, both domesticated and wild—such as chicken, turkey, goose, and the eggs fo many kinds of birds. But if one generation of predators greedily consumes all of a prey population, the next generation of those predators would be deprived of a food source, which would be harmful to both the predator population and the prey population. Accordingly, it is good for a generation of predators to only eat a limited amount of a prey population, so that future generations of both predators and prey can benefit (form continued reproductive success of the prey population. That stewardship principle—applying restraint in lieu of greedy wastefulness—is what Moses commanded the Israelites as a conservation law for their future entry into and settlement in the Promised Land of Canaan.
If a bird’s nest chance to be before thee in the way in any tree, or on the ground, whether they be young ones, or eggs, and the mother sitting upon the young, or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the mother with the young; but thou shalt in any wise let the mother go, and take the young to thee; that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong days. (Deuteronomy 22:6-7, with “nest” [qên] as noun)
3. Nests are where good parenting is needed!
How eagle parents treat their young has been a subject of some confusion over the years, due to a less-than-clear-and-accurate translation of Deuteronomy 32:11. That confusion has already been addressed in “Clarifying Confusion about Eagles’ Wings”, posted at https://leesbird.com/2022/09/27/clarifying-confusion-about-eagles-wings/ — so that discussion will not be repeated here. Suffice it to say, here, that eagle parents care for their young! Like many—but not all—animal parents, eagle parents go to great efforts to raise their nestling children, training them for life as fledglings.
As an eagle, he [i.e., God, in relation to His people Israel] stirs up his [i.e., God’s] nest, he {i.e., God] flutters over his [i.e., God’s] young, he [I.e., God] spreads abroad his [i.e., God’s] wings, he [i.e., God] taketh them, he [i.e., God] bears them [i.e., the Israelites as God’s people] on his [i.e., God’s] wings…. (Deuteronomy 32:11, literal translation, with editorial clarifications, with “nest” [qên] as a metaphoric noun)
This is comparable to how the Lord Jesus Christ compared His willingness to protect Jews to a mother hen’s protectiveness, as demonstrated in her welcoming and refuge-providing wingspread, noted in Matthew 23:37 and also in Luke 13:34.
4. Nests should be places of domestic security: “home sweet home”.
Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand. (Job 29:18, with “nest” [qên] as noun)
The patriarch Job, unto his “friendly” counsellors, once lamented his former life of blessing, before his torturous trials were suddenly dumped upon his head. Job related how he expected to live a long life of uninterrupted blessing, ultimately dying at peace in his own “nest” (i.e., “home sweet home”). But, God had other plans—ultimately better (albeit bumpier) plans for Job’s earthly pilgrimage.
5. The ability, of birds to make nests, is God-given, i.e., God-programmed.
Doth the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high? (Job 39:27, with “nest” [qên] as noun)
The eagle has designed (i.e., pre-programmed) abilities and inclinations to make its nest in high places, and to mount up into the air suing thermal air currents. The eagle did not invent these designed traits – God designed the eagle’s physical traits and pre-programmed abilities, including the know-how (and the how-to) needed for successfully building eyries atop high montane places or in trees. [For more on this Scripture about eagle behavior, see “JOB Chapter 39: God’s Wisdom and Providence, Exhibited in Wildlife Pair””, posted at ttps://rockdoveblog.wordpress.com/?s=Job+39%3A27 .]
6. Nests are for raising children, i.e., the next generation.
Yea, the sparrow hath found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King, and my God. (Psalm 84:3, with “nest” [qên] as noun)
Notice that the sparrow’s “house” is parallel in meaning to the “nest’ of the swallow. In other words, a “nest” is a “house” for dwelling in, and especially for raising young in.
7. Particular types of nests are selected according who will be living therein.
Where the birds make their nests: as for the stork, the fir trees are her house. (Psalm 104:17, with “nest” [qânan] as verb)
In the above-quoted psalm we are reminded that storks are known to make their homes within the branches of fir trees. (Storks are also known as predictable migrants—see Jeremiah 8:7, described in “A Lesson from the Stork”, posted at www.icr.org/article/lesson-from-stork .)
8. Wandering from the security of the nest can lead to many dangers.
As a bird that wanders from her nest, so is a man that wanders from his place. (Proverbs 27:8, with “nest” [qên] as noun)
For it shall be, that, as a wandering bird cast out of the nest, so the daughters of Moab shall be at the fords of Arnon. (Isaiah 16:2, with “nest” [qên] as noun)
One of the advantages of many bird nests is camouflage—being hidden form the sight of hungry predators. There is a security that comes with staying inside one’s proper home. Not that any home (or nest) is “bulletproof” from danger, but there are often many more dangers lurking about, the farther that one wanders away from home. (The same is true for young who are expelled from home.) Consequently, the high mortality rate is why birds routinely try to raise more hatchlings than themselves. In other words, two parent birds need to strive for replacing themselves with more than just two children, in order to mitigate the risks that their progeny will become prey (literally “dead meat”) before they progeny can successfully reproduce the next generation.
9. Bird eggs are a valuable source of good (i.e., nutritionally rich) food.
And my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the people: and as one gathers eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped. (Isaiah 10:14, with “nest” [qên] as noun)
Isaiah stated the obvious—eggs are valuable; in fact, they are like a store of “riches”, nutritionally speaking. This nutrition fact concurs with the mention of eggs as a “good” food, in contrast to bad food. See Luke 11:11-13, where giving eggs to eat is recognized (by Christ Himself, the Creator of all food) as “good gifts to your children”.
10. Places are recognized as “wild places”, if dominated by many predators.
There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow; there shall the vultures also be gathered, everyone with her mate. (Isaiah 34:15, with “nest” [qânan] as verb)
The context of this somber prophecy, of Isaiah, is God judging (i.e., punishing) the Edomites, because of the Edomites’ wicked mistreatment of Israelites (see Isaiah 34:6-8), with the resultant desolation of the Edomites’ land—which punitive desolation to include Edomite lands becoming overtaken by birds of prey (se Isaiah 34:10-16). Thus, if Edomite lands are, in the prophesied future, dominated by the nests of predatory animals—including predatory birds—such lands are to be recognized as “wild places” (wildernesses), not fit for human habitation.
11. Flexibility increases opportunities to “fit” and “fill” different situations
O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in the rock, and be like the dove that makes her nest in the sides of the hole’s mouth. (Jeremiah 48:28, with “nest” [qânan] as verb)
Doves, which include pigeons, are famous for adjusting themselves to the most diverse of habitats. Years ago, this writer (with family) was exploring an underground “lava tube” cave at Craters of the Moon park, in Idaho. Inside this most inhospitable venue, perched within a crack in the cavernous ceiling, there was a nest with two pigeons therein! Doves can live successfully almost anywhere – they are peaceful, yet flexible and opportunistic.
12. Tree branches are often a hospitable home for nesting birds.
All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow dwelt all great nations. (Ezekiel 31:6, with “nest” [qânan] as verb)
The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth, whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation. (Daniel 4:20-21)
Even in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream he recognized that tree branches (a/k/a boughs) are good sites for bird nests!
Saving the best for last: Christ prepared for bird homes via nesting habitats and nesting skills.
And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. (Matthew 8:20, with “nests” [κατασκηνωσεις] as noun)
And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. (Luke 9:58, with “nest” [κατασκηνωσεις] as noun)
Behold the kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ: He did not insist on having a “home” when He came to Earth to be our Savior. However, as our kind Creator He even prepared fitting homes fo His animal creatures, such as foxes and “birds of the air”.
Speaking of “home”, it is the very Creator-Redeemer, our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is our true home.
Accordingly, settling (domesticating) specific niches in the earth—even migratory stopover homes—and utilizing home bases for family life activities is needful to fill the multitude of Earth’s multifarious habitats. To achieve this goal, God has providentially equipped creatures with physical bodies (with helpful anatomies and physiologies) and programmed bio-informational instructions (coding and equipping for habitat-interactive behaviors) that are fitted to the dynamic challenges of physical environments (and biotic communities) all over the globe. As earthbound pilgrims, we pass through this mortal life (Hebrews 11:13; 1 Peter 2:11), interfacing with an all-too-often hostile culture (Hebrews 11:36-38). We long for a truly secure home—where we really belong.
But, as Christians, what is our true home? It is not residential real estate housing (Philippians 3:20; Hebrews 11:8-14). Our true homes are not even the earthly bodies that we temporally inhabit, although they are the “tents” we know best (2 Corinthians 5:1-4; 2 Peter 1:13). For Christians, ultimately, our real eternal home is God Himself (Psalm 90:1; 2 Corinthians 5:6; John 14:2-6). As our Creator, He started us. As our Redeemer, we finish with Him. What a homecoming we wait for!
Maybe there are more examples, of bird nests being mentioned in Scripture. But, at least, the examples listed above show that bird nests are important, so important (to God) that they merit repeated mention, in the only book that God Himself wrote.
Cormorants are Great; Great Cormorants are Really Great!
Dr. James J. S. Johnson
“But the cormorant [shalak] and the bittern shall possess it [i.e., the land of Idumea, a/k/a Edom]; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it; and He [i.e., the LORD, in judgment] shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness.“
Isaiah 34:11
GREAT CORMORANTS in flight (Minnesota) photo credit: Bryce Gaudian
In some contexts, CORMORANTS are not deemed as indicators of blessing — as in Isaiah 34;11, where it is prophetically mentioned as an indicator that the land of Edom is catastrophically destroyed. However, in many other contexts, these magnificent birds are recognized as wonderful creatures whom God has equipped to live by bodies of water, both freshwater and seawater.
GREAT CORMORANT aloft (Minnesota) photo credit: Bryce Gaudian
Cormorants love to live by bodies of water. Cormorants are found busy hunting — darting (befitting the Hebrew noun shalak, in Leviticus 11:17 & Deuteronomy 14:17, translated “cormorant”, which matches the darting-like targeting movements) for food over and near coastlines, including the coasts of islands, such as the Hebridean isle of Staffa, which was reported earlier (on this Christian birdwatching blog), in the report titled “Birdwatching at Staffa: Puffins, Shags, and more”, posted at https://leesbird.com/2019/07/22/birdwatching-at-staffa-puffins-shags-more/ (July 22nd A.D.2019), citing Isaiah 42:12. [Regarding “cormorants” in the Holy Bible, see George S. Cansdale, ALL THE ANIMALS OF THE BIBLE LANDS (Zondervan, 1976), at page 175.]
Cormorants constitute a large “family” of birds; the mix of “cousins” include Crowned Cormorant (Phalacrocorax coronatus), Brandt’s Cormorant (Phalacrocorax penicillatus), Galapagos Cormorant (Phalacrocorax harrisi), Bank Cormorant (Phalacrocorax neglectus), Neo-tropic Cormorant (Phalacrocorax brasilianus), Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus), Indian Cormorant Phalacrocorax fuscicollis), Socotra Cormorant (Phalacrocorax nigrogularis), Cape Cormorant (Phalacrocorax capensis), Guanay Cormorant (Phalacrocorax bougainvillii, a/k/a Guanay Shag), Kerguelen Shag (Phalacrocorax verrucosus), Imperial Shag (Phalacrocorax atriceps), Antarctic Shag (Phalacrocorax bransfieldensis). South Georgia Shag (Phalacrocorax georgianus), Campbell Island Shag (Phalacrocorax campbelli), New Zealand King Shag (Phalacrocorax carunculatus), Bronze Shag (Phalacrocorax chalconous), Chatham Island Shag (Phalacrocorax onslowi), Auckland Island Shag (Phalacrocorax colensoi), Rock Shag (Phalacrocorax magellanicus), Bounty Island Shag (Phalacrocorax ranfurlyi), Red-faced Cormorant (Phalacrocorax urile, a/k/a Red-faced Shag), European Shag (Phalacrocorax aristotelis), Pelagic Cormorant (Phalacrocorax pelagicus, a/k/a Pelagic Shag), Red-legged Cormorant (Phalacrocorax gaimardi), Spotted Shag (Phalacrocorax punctatus), Pied Cormorant (Phalacrocorax varius), Great Cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), Japanese Cormorant (Phalacrocorax capillatus), Olivaceous Cormorant (Phalacrocoraxolivaceus, a/k/a Mexican Cormorant), and Pitt Island Shag (Phalacrocorax featherstoni).
That’s a lot of cormorant “cousins”, worldwide! [For details on each of these “cousins”, see pages 116-136 of Jim Enticott & David Tipling, SEABIRDS OF THE WORLD: THE COMPLETE REFERENCE (Stackpole Books, 1997).]
SHAG (a type of Cormorant), at Staffa, Hebrides (Scotland) photo credit: Public Insta
Cormorants are famous “fishermen” along ocean coastlines, yet cormorants also thrive in inland freshwater habitats, such as over and near ponds and lakes, such as the Double-crested Cormorants that frequent inland ponds in Denton County, Texas, where they catch “fish of the day”.
DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT with fish photo credit: Bruce J. Robinson
Cormorants are generally described, by ornithologist Roger Tory Peterson, as follows:
Large, blackish, slender-billed water birds. Often confused with loons, but tail longer, bill hook-tipped. In flight, wing action is more rapid and axis of body and neck is tilted upward slightly (loon’s neck droops). Young birds are browner, with a pale or whitish breast. Flocks [of cormorants] fly in line or wedge formation very much like geese but they are silent. Cormorants often perch in uprightpositions on buoys or posts with neck in an S [posture]; sometimes strike a “spread eagle” pose. Swimming, they lie low like loons, but with necks more erect and snakelike, and bills tilted upward at an angle. Food: Fish (chiefly non-game). Nearly cosmopolitan [in range].
[Quoting Roger Tory Peterson, cited below]
[See Roger Tory Peterson, A FIELD GUIDE TO THE BIRDS OF TEXAS AND ADJACENT STATES (Houghton Mifflin, 1988), page 10.]
Specifically, the Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritis) is perhaps the most common winter migrant of the cormorants; also, the Double-crested Cormorant is often seen in the coastline areas of Texas’ Gulf of Mexico shores.
GREAT CORMORANTS descending (Minnesota) photo credit: Bryce Gaudian
Have you ever watching a silhouetted cormorant — or two — or three — winging their way across the late afternoon sky? It is a wonder to behold!
GREAT CORMORANTS silhouetted against the sky photo credit: Bryce Gaudian
Now, try to imagine a dozen, or more, cormorants, flying in series. That’s a wondrous wonder to behold! That constitutes one of the “wonders without number” that Scripture refers to (in Job 9:10).
serial “line” of GREAT CORMORANTS in flight (Texas) photo credit: Bryce Gaudian
And now here is my closing limerick, about cormorants:
APPRECIATING HUMBLE CORMORANTS (AND SHAGS)
Cormorants are not known to brag,
If they’re so-called, or called “shag”;
They oft fly, in a line,
And on fish, they oft dine —
But cormorants aren’t known to brag.
DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS perching on posts photo credit: Mark Eising Birding
(Dr. Jim Johnson formerly taught ornithology and avian conservation at Dallas Christian College, among other subjects, and he has served as a naturalist-historian guest lecturer aboard 9 international cruise ships, some of which sailed in seawaters frequented by cormorants and shags. Jim was introduced to Christian birdwatching as an 8-year-old, by his godly 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Thelma Bumgardner.)
Can the rush grow up without mire? can the flag grow without water?
(Job 8:11)
Speaking of birdwatching in Texas, ornithologist Stan Tekiela says, “It’s a sure sign of spring when [migratory] Red-winged Blackbirds return to the marshes.” [Quoting from Tekiela’s BIRDS OF TEXAS FIELD GUIDE (Cambridge, MN: Adventure Publications, Inc., 2004), page 9.]
RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD MALE, front view, on budding plants (photo credit: Bryce Gaudian)
Of course, Minnesota hosts Redwinged Blackbirds in early springtime, weeks before the last snowdrifts melt away with warming spring temperatures.
“CLOUD” of RED-WINGED BLACKBIRDS, Minnesota (photo credit: Bryce Gaudian)
Of course, what could be a more iconic marshland plants than cattails, which Redwings love to perch upon, all over America’s Lower 48 states (as well as much of Mexico and Canada)?
And where you have cattails, you often have Red-winged Blackbirds, known to ornithologists as Agelaius phoeniceus, sometimes nicknamed “Redwings” (but not to be confused with the Eurasia’s thrush that is also nicknamed “redwing”), , as was noted in a previous blogpost “Redwing Pond”, posted at https://leesbird.com/2019/11/04/redwing-pond/.
The most successful way to observe the behavior of Red-winged Blackbirds is to locate a marshy area where a number of them can be regularly found, pick one or two of the more active birds, and follow their movements for about a half hour. A characteristic of Redwings is that they alternate periods of active displaying with periods of quiet and feeding, so you cannot just show up at a marsh and expect immediately to see all of their marvelous displays.
Donald Stokes, A GUIDE TO BIRD BEHAVIOR, Vol. I (Boston: Little, Brown & Company / Stokes Nature Guides, 1979), page 275.
Red-winged Blackbirds are one of my favorite icterid (blackbird family) birds. The males sport colorful epaulets (i.e., shoulder-wing feather “bars”) of pale yellow and red stripes, which contrast strikingly against their otherwise glossy black plumage. The females have a more camouflage-hued brownish plumage, accenting the brown feathers with ivory-white mottling and outlining (and “eyebrows”).
Above and below are some splendid photographs taken by Christian/creationist wildlife photographer (in Minnesota), showing how beautiful (and plentiful) these Red-winged Blackbirds can be.
Red-winged blackbirds are not picky eaters — although they mostly eat plant material, such as seeds (including seeds from various weeds, from birdfeeders, as well as from rice or other grain seeds) and available berries (including blackberries and blueberries). Redwings also eat a mix of small animals, especially insect adults and larvae (including flies, moths, butterflies, dragonflies), spiders, earthworms, periodical cicadas, and even snails.
RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD FEMALE, perching with prey (photo credit: BRYCE GAUDIAN)
How nice it would be to see Red-winged Blackbirds perching upon cattails that constitute a fence-like edge along a pond-shore or a drainage ditch!
Thank You, Lord, for making these marsh-loving icterids.
SEED-LOVING BOBOLINKS, GROUND-NESTING IN GRASSLANDS
Dr. James J. S. Johnson
BOBOLINKS in grassland habitat, Minnesota (photo credit: Bryce Gaudian)
If a bird’snest chance to be before thee in the way in any tree, or on the ground, whether they be young ones, or eggs, and the mother sitting upon the young, or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the mother with the young.
(Deuteronomy 22:6)
Moses noted that some wild birds build their nests upon the ground; Bobolinks do just that.
Years ago, I reported on the Black-capped Chickadee, noting that I first saw one at Gilsland Farm Sanctuary, while attending a wetland ecologists’ meeting: “Decades ago, I saw Black-capped Chickadees, for the first time, in Falmouth (near Portland), Maine – at the Gilsland Farm Sanctuary (now called “Gilsland Farm Audubon Center”), on May 31st of AD1995, while attending the annual national meeting of the Society of Wetlands Scientists.” [Quoting from “Tiny Yet Tough: Chickadees Hunker Down for Winter”, posted at https://leesbird.com/2016/11/18/tiny-yet-tough-chickadees-hunker-down-for-winter/ .]
Another “lifer” that I then observed that day, at Gilsland Farm Sanctuary, was the BOBOLINK. And what a striking plumage the male Bobolink has, during breeding season!
BOBOLINK MALE in breeding plumage, Minnesota (photo credit: Bryce Gaudian)
Bobolinks (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) are icterids (blackbirds of the Western Hemisphere), dwelling in America’s prairie and pasture grasslands and marshy wetlands during the warm months of the year. Bobolinks were nicknamed “rice birds” (which matches their species name, oryzivorus, meaning “rice-eating”), due to their dining habits, especially during autumn migrations.
The Bobolink genus name, Dolichonyx, means “long claw”, matching its prehensile perching “fingers”.
During such migrations Bobolinks frequently feed in farmed fields of rice and other grains (such as oats, sorghum, maize corn, and hayseed), at energy-packing refueling stopovers (e.g., in South Carolina and the Gulf states), on their aerial journeys southward, via Caribbean islands, en route to South American over-wintering range destinations.
Bobolinks feed on (or near) the ground, eating various seeds, insects, spiders, and even snails—especially during breeding seasons. Both larvae and adults of insects (especially armyworm moths) are protein-rich, much needed for growing Bobolink juveniles.
Also, during breeding seasons, Bobolinks depend upon available hay for nest-building, on the ground, in vegetated areas.
Bobolinks are quite specific in their breeding habitat needs. Open hay fields are a must, and so as farming is some regions of the country diminishes, so do populations of bobolinks. Where colonies of bobolinks have traditionally bred, it is important to preserve their habitat with regular mowing practices. Unfortunately, the right time to mow a field for hay is often just when the young are fledging[!]. Careful observation of the behavior of a [bobolink] colony and delaying of mowing until one or two weeks after fledging, a time when the young can fly fairly well, will keep a colony producing and ensure its [multi-generational] survival.
[Quoting Donald W. Stokes & Lillian Q. Stokes, A GUIDE TO BIRD BEHAVIOR, Volume III (Boston: Little, Brown & Company/Stokes Nature Guides, 1989), pages 351-352.]
BOBOLINK MALE in grassland habitat, Minnesota (photo credit: Bryce Gaudian)
Consequently, Bobolinks are easier to find in habitats where their needs for food and nesting are plentiful.
BOBOLINK male in flight, prairie habitat, Minnesota (photo credit: Bryce Gaudian)
The males have easily seen plumages—like reverse tuxedos (white upon black) in spring and summer, during breeding months.
Male and female bobolinks are easily distinguished during the breeding season. Males have a black head, belly, and wings, with a buff-gold nape and white patches on the back. The female is buff [and brown] colored all over with dark streaks on her back, wings, and sides.
[Quoting Donald W. Stokes & Lillian Q. Stokes, A GUIDE TO BIRD BEHAVIOR, Volume III (Boston: Little, Brown & Company/Stokes Nature Guides, 1989), pages 364.]
During non-breeding months, however, Bobolink males shift to duller hues of dark and light browns, similar to the year-round plumage of Bobolink females and juveniles.
Of course, these tweety-chirpy icterids breed elsewhere in spring – in most of the upper half of America’s Lower 48, from the Northeast’s coastlines almost as far wet as the coasts of Washington and Oregon. Accordingly, the Bobolink migrates about 6,000 miles southward or northward, so it accrues about 12,000 miles per year, in air miles.
American Bird Conservancy range map
It was a privilege to see Bobolinks, back in AD1995, at the Gilsland Farm Sanctuary, as part of my time attending the Society of Wetlands Scientists’ meeting.
Likewise, it’s a privilege, now, to be permitted to share some of the wonderful Bobolink photographs taken in Minnesota, by Christian/creationist photographer BRYCE GAUDIAN — thanks, Bryce!
And now, it’s time for a limerick, about Bobolinks.
This shall be written for the generation to come; and the people who shall be created shall praise the LORD.
(Psalm 102:18)
GREAT-TAILED GRACKLE (male) Charles J. Sharp / Wikipedia photo credit
Last weekend, I drove past a familiar Texas pond, where 11 years ago I saw a “common” black-feathered bird (i.e., Quiscalus mexicanus = Great-tailed Grackle, to be exact), and was then jolted by an “uncommon” (and somewhat-scary) realization – God could have made me a grackle!
Days later, during the summer of AD2012, I reported this important thought (and attitude fo gratitude) within an article [“Grackles and Gratitude”, ACTS & FACTS, 41(7):8-10 July 2012), posted at www.icr.org/article/grackles-gratitude ] about how uniquely and personally each one of us is, created by the Lord Jesus Christ, as exactly the specific individual that each one of us is.
When was the last time that you saw a bird—perhaps a grackle or a pigeon—and shuddered with the scary realization: That could have been me! Maybe you have never thought about a grackle that way. Yet it is true—God did not need to make us just as we are. He had many other options. God could have created each of us as a bird, a butterfly, or a basalt rock. God could have made you or me a uranium-bearing rock, a nudibranch, an ice worm, a quince fruit, an ultraviolet ray, or an egret.[Notice the acrostic in the previous sentence: U.N.I.Q.U.E.!]
Yet, He deliberately chose otherwise. He chose to make us one-of-a-kind humans. What a fearful and wonderful reality!…
Surely we should thank Christ for being our very personal Creator. So the next time you see a grackle, think thankfully for a moment, “That could have been me!” And be grateful to your Creator, who made you a unique, one-of-a-kind creation.
[Quoting JJSJ’s “Of Grackles and Gratitude”)
GRACKLE ON CATTAILS (BirdNote / Gary Leavens photo credit)
So, what an echo from yesteryear it was, last weekend, when I spied another “common” grackle (actually a Great-tailed Grackle, which is common in Denton County, Texas), ambling about the littoral cattails of that same pond that I drove by more than a decade ago.
Whew! What a journey the past 11 years have been, as I quickly recall and reconsider (and gratefully appreciate) God’s many personal and providential blessings unto me – including His kind and caring blessings that continue to make me the individual man I am – along with the many other blessings of His redemptive and always-sufficient grace, over those 11 years since that important icterid-aided insight.
Plus, the best is yet to come (Luke 10:20)! So, thinking of Psalm 102:18, I close this nostalgic memoir with a limerick:
AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE, ON SEEING A GRACKLE IN THE CATTAILS
Some troubles, in life, we must tackle,
Threatening us, with harm, like a jackal;
Yet life, itself, we can face,
Since life, itself, is God’s grace —
Each of us, God could’ve made, a grackle!
COMMON GRACKLE on Cattail (National Park Service photo credit)
After Being Buried for 350 Years, Nottingham Sheriff’s Two Swans Reappear
Dr. James J. S. Johnson
And the swan [הַתִּנְשֶׁ֥מֶת], and the pelican, ….
(Leviticus 11:18)
Recently (today being June 26th of AD2023), an ancient (about 350 years old!) gold signet ring of interest to birdwatchers –– was found by a man in Nottingham (England), using a metal detector.
But why would this ancient ring be of interest to birdwatchers? Because the signet ring displayed an armorial coat of arms that features 2 birds that look like swans or geese. In fact, the 2 birds are swans.
Nottingham sheriff’s old signet ring (public domain image)
It was found by Graham Harrison, a retired British Merchant Navy engineer, according to a news report (that was recently brought to my attention by my good wife):
“Graham Harrison spends his time searching the hills in his town with a metal detector, in hopes of finding something special. The former merchant navy engineer struck gold, quite literally, in the form of a 350-year-old gold signet ring that was owned by Nottingham’s most famous sheriff. The ring belonged to Sir Matthew Jenison who was the Sheriff of Nottingham from 1683 and 1684, looking after the famous Sherwood Forest. Harrison found the ring on farmland about 26 miles from the forest. After finding the ring, he sent it to the British Museum’s Portable Antiquities Scheme where it was authenticated. ….
[An auctioneer’s expert] consultant valuer Adam Staples said, ‘The ring has survived in near perfect condition and the front face bears a detailed engraving of the Jenison family arms, two swans separated by a diagonal bend. This would have been pressed into melted wax in order to seal the family crest on important letters and documents’. … Jennison [who served as Nottingham’s Sheriff, guarding England’s Sherwood Forest, once home to the original Robin Hood] was born in 1654 and became a knight in 1683. As sheriff, his job was to keep watch on the trees in the Sherwood Forest. Despite starting his life defending the law, and being elected to British parliament, Jenison got himself jailed for refusing to pay legal costs from a lawsuit he was involved in … [eventually dying] in prison in 1734.”
Quoting Christina Williams, “Retiree Unearths 350-year-old Ring”, THE DAILY ACORN (May 23rd AD2023)
Whooper Swans of Great Britain (photo image credits: from The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds)
The Hebrew word translated “swan” in Leviticus 11:18 (and also in Deuteronomy 14:16) is tinšemeh, meaning breath/wind-blower, derived from the Hebrew root verb nâšam, denoting the noise of wind blowing or someone breathing. Swans are like avian woodwind instruments, famous for their vocalized nasal-sounding noises—honking, trumpeting, whooping, etc.
Since the typical swan having winter range in England is the Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus), it’s most likely that the signet ring displays a pair of Whooper Swans. In fact, even today there are whooper swans in England, according to Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust ( www.nottinghamshirewildlife.org/wildlife-explorer/birds/waterfowl/whooper-swan ); these huge (and noisy) waterfowl have been protected in England since AD1981, pursuant to the Wildlife and Countryside Act.
And, thanks to conservation efforts, the United Kingdom is now seeing more swans–especially whooper swans–in places like Northern Ireland, Scotland, and England (especially East Anglia and northern England, not far from the Sherwood Forest that Nottingham’s Sheriff was famous for guarding).
Flag of Nottinghamshire, England (public domain image)
One may wonder, looking at the ring’s engraved impression, how many times those 2 swan molds were used to squish and shape melted wax into a 3-dimensional seal, leaving a wax-hardened bas-relief image of 2 swans upon the wax seal of some legal document that recorded official business of England’s Sheriff of Nottingham.
Of course, signet rings have been around–being used by government officials to solemnify and authenticate legal documents for many centuries. For example, the Persian king’s signet ring played an important role in the political drama recorded in the Old Testament’s book of ESTHER.
And the king took his ring from his hand, and he gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews’ enemy.
(Esther 3:10)
Notice that the Persian king’s ring was a signet ring that was used to seal official documents.
Then were the king’s scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded unto the king’s lieutenants, and to the governors that were over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof, and to every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king’s ring.
(Esther 3:12)
In the above-quoted verses the king’s signet ring was used by a wicked government official, Haman.
Esther 8:2 (public domain image)
However, later–thanks to God’s providence (in answer to fervent prayers of God’s people)–the king’s signet ring was used by Haman’s adversary, Mordecai, to secure a work-around solution that overcame the evils done by Haman.
And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman. … Write ye also for the Jews, as it liketh you, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s ring: for the writing which is written in the king’s name, and sealed with the king’s ring, may no man reverse. … And he [i.e., Mordecai] wrote in the king Ahasuerus’ name, and sealed it with the king’s ring, and sent letters by posts on horseback, and riders on mules, camels, and young dromedaries ….
(Esther 8:2 & 8: & 8:10)
Thank God for His kind and caring providences! Without God’s providential care we have no hope!
Meanwhile, most signet rings–although important–are not used for such Earth-shaking intrigues. And, in the case of the Nottingham Sheriff’s signet ring, obscurity lasted 350 years, buried underground.
So, there you have it—a gold signet rings bearing 2 swans, within the sheriff’s armorial coat of arms. Those 2 engraved swans had to wait 350 years to see the life of day (so to speak), again, after being buried. Wow! That almost makes me want to buy a metal detector!—who knows what I might find?
WHOOPER SWAN in Great Britain (BBC photo credit)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dr. James J. S. Johnson has been a birdwatcher since 2nd grade, thanks to Mrs. Thelma Bumgardner, who gave him his 1st bird-book (which he still has). Jim has taught ornithology and ecology at Dallas Christian College, for ACSI, for ICR-SOBA, and has served as a naturalist-historian guest lecturer aboard 9 different international cruise ships, for a half-century observing many birds in many places, including in Great Britain. profjjsj@aol.com ><> JJSJ
CHICKADEE WITH CATERPILLAR (photo credit: Deb Breton / Portland State University)
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.
(Matthew 6:19-20)
Although moths are famous as pests, to humans (since Biblical times, as the above quote shows), moth caterpillars are desired and delectable food for hungry chickadees—and chickadees need lots of food energy for fuel, to live out their brave and busy lives.
CAROLINA CHICKADEE ( photo credit: Maria de Bruyn / ProjectNoah.org )
Chickadees are brave little birds, resilient enough to tough out winter weather, while less resilient birds migrate south for milder climes.
CHICKADEE, eating seeds during winter in Canada (photo credit: DiscoverSouthernOntario.com)
The resilience of these petite yet robust little passerines was recently appreciated by Alonso Abugattas (a/k/a “Capital Naturalist”*), in the May (A.D.2023) issue of CHESAPEAKE BAY JOURNAL. (*This is the same Alonso Abugattas, longtime natural resources manager for Arlington in Virginia, who was recognized as a “Regional Environmental Champion” by the Washington metro area’s Audubon Naturalist Society.)
One of my favorite birds is the chickadee. The Carolina chickadee (Poecile carolinensis) is the one we usually see around the Washington, D.C. area. The nearly identical black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) usually lives farther north, though the species overlap a bit in central and south Pennsylvania. The black caps are known to venture farther south during irruption years, when there is severe cold weather or food shortage. The energy and resourcefulness of chickadees, along with biological adaptations, allow them to live in our yards year-round. In winter, when most other insect-eating birds migrate [south], they augment their diet with seeds. People who feed birds are likely to find chickadees, which are particularly fond of black oil sunflower seeds, to be among their best customers. …
Chickadees have several ways of conserving energy [i.e., body heat when it is cold outside]. They fluff their feathers and grow up to 30% more feathers in winter to trap body-warmed air. They can also enter torpor [i.e., overnight semi-hibernation metabolic slowdown], reducing their body temperatures by as much as 20 degrees on winter nights to conserve fat reserves.
[Quoting Alonso Abugattas, “Meet the Carolina Chickadee, Resourceful ‘Bringer of News’”, CHESAPEAKE BAY JOURNAL, 33(3):39 (May 2023).]
CHICKADEE IN WINTER (photo credit: Howard Eskin / Backyards for Nature)
In Texas the Carolina Chickadee is a year-round resident in the north (even as far as the northeast corner of the Panhandle), east, and central (including much of the Edwards Plateau) parts. [See Roger Tory Peterson, A FIELD GUIDE TO THE BIRDS OF TEXAS AND ADJACENT STATES (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1988), a/k/a BIRDS OF TEXAS, at pages 141, plate 38, & 172.]
Chickadees are easy to identify: “Chickadees are the only small birds with the combination of black cap, black bib, white cheeks. … [noticeably] smaller than sparrows.” [Quoting Peterson’s BIRDS OF TEXAS, cited above, at page 172.]
However, distinguishing between Carolina Chickadees and Black-capped Chickadees is not so easy. In fact, these chickadees belong to the same created (on Day 5 of Creation Week) created “kind” of bird, because they successfully interbreed. (In fact, other chickadee hybrids are known, such as hybrids of Mountain Chickadees with Black-capped Chickadees.)
CHICKADEE HYBRID: BLACK-CAPPED X MOUNTAIN (photo credit: Steve Mlodinow / Bird Hybrids Blog)
Unsurprisingly, hybridization occurs where Black-capped Chickadees share ranges with Carolina Chickadees, such as in Colorado. [See Kelsey Simpkins, “The Chickadee You See Sitting on a Tree? It Might Be a Hybrid”, CU BOULDER TODAY (Oct. 22, 2022), posted by University of Colorado Boulder, at http://www.colorado.edu/today/2022/10/28/chickadee-you-see-sitting-tree-it-might-be-hybrid .] In fact, hybridization also occurs with the Black-capped Chickadee and its range-sharing cousin, the white eye-browed (but otherwise similar-looking) Mountain Chickadee.
Black-capped chickadee is by far the most common of the two i.e., of Black-capped Chickadees and Carolina Chickadees] and has a much wider range spanning pretty much the entirety of the USA and southern Canada, though they’re also found in Alaska. Conversely, the Carolina chickadee is relatively confined to the southeastern USA. The two birds converge [i.e., overlap in ranges] along a wide strip spanning from New Jersey to Kansas. In terms of looks, the Black-capped chickadee is slightly larger than the Carolina chickadee [which is an advantage for preserving body heat in cold winters]. The Black-capped chickadee also has more strongly contrasting plumage, including a paler breast and underside of the body. To confuse these birds further, they often hybridize (frequently!) across the strip where they meet, particularly when the Black-capped chickadees push further south during [winter] than they would usually do. Hybrid Black-capped and Carolina chickadees are pretty much impossible to identify [apart from DNA studies]. . . .
However, where Black-capped and Carolina chickadees meet, they can learn each other’s songs which renders this form of identification quite useless! For example, most Carolina chickadees sing Black-capped songs in Pennsylvania, and about 60% sing both Black-capped and Carolina songs. This intermixing of songs causes chickadees to sing strange mixes of each other’s songs, leading to increased hybridization.
The observed behaviors of chickadees are a study in themselves—they have special habits of communication (including vocalized “talking” and visual display “body language”), courting, breeding and nest life (including nest-building, egg laying, incubation, nurturing hatchlings, etc.), territory defense, and more.
BLACK-CAPPED CHICKADEE in Ontario, Canada (photo credit: DiscoverSouthernOntario.com)
One such behavior is territory defense, a behavioral habit that is unusual among North American passerine songbirds. In particular this has been observed of Black-capped Chickadees, though there is not reason to suspect this habit is absent among its southern Carolina cousins.
Black-capped Chickadees are unusual in terms of territory [stewardship]. Like some other birds, they hold both breeding and nonbreeding territories, but unlike any of our other common birds, their nonbreeding territory is occupied and defended by a flock and not by an individual bird or mated pair. These flocks are highly structured [i.e., organized] and have predictable patterns of movement. …
In late summer after the young [fledglings] have dispersed, Chickadees gather into small flocks that remain together until the start of the next breeding season. … A flock usually forms around a dominant pair that has just finished a successful brood. The flock contain six to ten birds, some juveniles, some paired adults, and some single adults. It establishes a feeding territory which it defends against other neighboring flocks. …
Once the breeding phase starts [in spring], winter flocks break up and you will have fewer Chickadees at your feeder. If one or two pairs remain in the area to breed, you may see the female do Wing-quiver [visual display] as she is fed by the male in courtship, and later you may see the young [hatchlings] do Wing-quiver as they are fed by the parents.
[Quoting Donald W. Stokes, A GUIDE TO BIRD BEHAVIOR, VOLUME I (Little, Brown, 1979), at pages 166, 171, 173]
Chickadees are also famous for another habit: gobbling up caterpillars!
CHICKADEE EATING CATERPILLAR (photo credit: Doug Tallamy of Univ. of Delaware / News.Mongabay.com)
So, if you dislike swarms of insects (such as flies) during summertime, or if you fear moths marring your beautiful clothing (see Matthew 6:19-20), you should appreciate the moth-munching insectivorous diets of chickadees:
Chickadee parents feed their young almost exclusively on insects. Caterpillars [i.e., crawling insect larvae of butterflies and moths] are their favorite. It takes about 9,000 caterpillars to raise one brood. Studies have shown that when insects aren’t available, the young [chickadee hatchlings] can die if fed only seed. This is why chickadees prefer to nest near native trees (and, in turn, native insects) as opposed to yards with nonnative plants [that are less “hospitable” to the insect populations that chickadees prefer to eat]. Their reproductive success is at stake.
[Quoting Alonso Abugattas, “Meet the Carolina Chickadee, Resourceful ‘Bringer of News’”, CHESAPEAKE BAY JOURNAL, 33(3):39 (May 2023).]
CAROLINA CHICKADEE EATING CATERPILLAR (photo credit: Doug Tallamy, University of Delaware / Popular Science)
Caterpillars provide more metabolic value than just nutritious protein; because caterpillars contain carotenoids, eating caterpillars helps chickadee feathers to be colorful, bright, and shiny.
So, as moths (including their caterpillar larvae) remind us to store up incorruptible treasures in Heaven (Matthew 6:21), we can also appreciate how God has purposed many of those lepidopteran caterpillars to fuel the brave and busy lifestyles of chickadees.
CHICKADEE EATING CATERPILLAR (photo credit: Deb Breton / Portland State University)
“Praise the LORD from the earth … fruitful trees and all cedars … and flying fowl.” (from Psalm 148:7-10)
CEDAR WAXWINGS EATING BERRIES [photo credit: Wild Birds Unlimited]
Each spring gregarious flocks of Cedar Waxwings pass through my part of Texas, as they migrate northward toward their breeding grounds. No “lone rangers” here! Cedar Waxwings travel in flocks of many dozens–sometimes even hundreds–synchronizing their fast-food stopovers along the way, to refuel for the next aerial leg of their migratory trek. And trees or bushes with red berries are a particular favorite of Cedar Waxwings. Although the nutritional details are a bit technical — as noted below* — waxwings need to balance their sour berry intake with protein-rich pollen, both of which are available during mid-April in my part of Texas, as the flocks of Cedar Waxwings pass through in their flights northward.
So, when these large flocks of colorful waxwings make a “pit stop” for fast-food they often fill the branches of trees as they hastily consume red berries (and other edible nutrients), just before resuming their northbound flights to their spring-through-summer breeding ranges.
On April 7th A.D.2023, a Friday morning, as I observed this hastily convened arboreal assembly of avian migrants, I thought of the traditional assemblies (“things”) of the Vikings — such as those Nordic congregants convened annually in Iceland (Thingvellir’s “Althing”) and on the Isle of Man (at the Manx “Tynwald”), to conduct the serious business of life. Could it be that these Cedar Waxwings were having their own version of an Althing assembly, as they refueled (and rested briefly) during their stopover in the branches of my trees and bushes? Since I cannot understand the language of Cedar Waxwings I cannot know what they conversed about — but I knew that they would vacate northward soon enough, so I would not see them again until the next seasonal migratory pass-through, as they live out the providential phenology of their migratory lifestyle.
What a privilege it was to see God’s Cedar Waxwings–scores of them (perhaps more than a hundred!) as a flock in transit–quickly visiting the trees and bushes on the south side of my home. Surely God’s birds will remind us of His care for us, if we take the time to think about it–and have eyes to see (Matthew 6:26; Luke 12:24).
In fact, that faith lesson (which is was taught, in ancient times, to the patriarch Job, by God Himself (in Job 38:41), as is noted in the first of the 3 apologetics lectures (shown below) that I gave recently, to a Swedish theology school (Skandinavisk Teologisk Högskola):
CEDAR WAXWINGS [photo credit: Museum of Life & Science, Durham, N.C.]
So, now for a limerick, that memorializes my observations of the flock of Cedar Waxwings that briefly visited my frontyard earlier this month:
FAST-FOOD/FLY-THRU ALTHING OF MIGRATORY CEDAR WAXWINGS
A flock-full of birds, in my trees,
Gulped down every berry they’d seize;
This arboreal Althing
of the Cedar Waxwing
Soon adjourned—dispersed with the breeze!
CEDAR WAXWINGS photo credit: Mary Anne Borge / The Natural Web
[*For technical information, befitting Cornell University, about the diet of Cedar Waxwings, see Mark C. Witmer’s “Nutritional Interactions and Fruit Removal: Cedar Waxwing Consumption of Viburnum opulus Fruits in Spring”, ECOLOGY, 82(11):3120-3130 (November 2001).]
God … is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: … [and He] doeth great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number.
[Job 9:2 & 9:4 & 9:10]
LESSER SCAUP male (photo credit: National Audubon Society)
Last Saturday (February 18th of A.D.2023), as I was birdwatching inside my wife’s car — while she was driving, so it’s okay that I was birdwatching! — I saw a lone Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis, a/k/a “Little Bluebill”) floating in the middle of a favorite pond (where I have often seen grackles in the past — see http://www.icr.org/article/grackles-gratitude/ — and appreciated that God could have made me a grackle!).
As I thought about this Lesser Scaup, and how I’ve often seen such scaups (and other ducks) on Texas ponds during winter, it seems that the occasion deserves a poetic memorial of some kind, such as a limerick.
Now, a few days later, here is that limerick, although admittedly the limerick calls the pond a “lake” (which some ponds are called, anyway, by Floridians), because it’s easier to rhyme “lake” than “pond” when composing limericks.
Apparently, the anatid name “scaup” derives from a European word referring to shellfish (e.g., Noah Webster’s 1828 AMERICAN DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE notes that “scalp” comes from the Dutch schelp meaning “shell”), alluding to coastal bivalves (such as clams, mussels, and oysters), which are often eaten by these diving ducks. These wetland-frequenting ducks also eat shoreline vegetation, such as pondweeds, widgeon-grass, sedges, bulrushes, wild rice, wild celery, and other hydrophilic plants.
Generally speaking, scaups are migratory birds, so we Texans see them during the cold months of the year — however, there are some parts of North America where Lesser Scaups are seen year-round. Sometimes it’s hard to distinguish a Lesser Scaup from a Greater Scaup (Aythya marila, a/k/a “Common Scaup” or “Bluebill”), from a distance — plus, to confuse identifications further, these scaups can hybridize with each other, as well as with the American Redhead (Aythya americana), Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris), European Pochard (Aythya ferina), and Canvasback (Aythya valisineria). [See Eugene M. McCarthy, HANDBOOK OF AVIAN HYBRIDS OF THE WORLD (Oxford, UK: Oxford Univ. Press, 2006), page 90.] But they are all diving ducks!
Greater Scaup between Lesseer Scaups (photo credit: reddit.com / birdpics)
So, as noted above (in the above limerick that is just “ducky”), I’m glad that, such ducks, God did make!
Lee's Birdwatching Adventures Plus 