Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga) at Lake Hollingsworth by Lee

Birds were created with many fantastic abilities. Many like to compare those capabilities with human characteristics, but God has given unique and different ways to the many orders of animals, plants, birds, fish, humans, etc. There are somethings a bird cannot do, that we as humans can.

Formed By Him

Birds don’t sweat! There are no sweat glands located in birds. We can perspire though through the skin to help reduce their our heat. Our avian friends have core body temperatures that exceed most mammals for their size. Their body temperatures range from 104-111 degrees F (40-44 degrees C).

All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds. (1 Corinthians 15:39 NKJV)

Here is a video I recently took of an Osprey cooling off. We were at Lake Hollingsworth in Lakeland, FL.

“In warm weather, a bird gets rid of excess body heat through its respiratory (breathing) system, which collects warm, moist air from its internal overheated tissues and expels it through its lungs… In stepping up its breathing rate from ordinary breathing to panting, a bird increases the flow of air over the most surfaces of its mouth, pharynx, bronchi, and possibly its air sacs.” (Encyclopedia of North American Birds)

But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; And the birds of the air, and they will tell you; (Job 12:7 NKJV)

The Lord created the animals and birds and then gave man dominion over them. That “dominion” includes learning about them so we can better understand all about their abilities, traits, behaviors, etc. This helps us protect them where possible and to appreciate the Creative Hand of the Lord. I sit back amazed at the omnipotence and omniscience of the Lord. When we observe the birds and learn about them, there is no way they “just happened.”

As for us? The same applies:

I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. (Psalms 139:14 KJV)

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The Anhinga is in the Anhingadae Family of the Suliformes Order.
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