Tag Archives: Creation

The Flight of Migratory Birds by Werner Gitt

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Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos) by J Fenton

Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos) by J Fenton

The Flight of Migratory Birds by Werner Gitt is a fairly technical, but very interesting article about the migration of birds. While thinking about yesterday’s Birds of the Bible – Migration September 2009, I came across this article. He mentions the Pacific Golden Plover in detail and some other long fliers, like:

“The following equally incredible flight performances are recorded for:

  • the Japanese snipe (Capella hardtwickii): 5,000 km flight from Japan to Tasmania
  • the needle-tailed swift of Eastern Siberia (Chaetura caudacuta): flight from Siberia to Tasmania
  • the American sandpipers (e.g. Calidris melanotos = pectoral sandpiper): 16,000 km flight from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego.”

Another excerpt from the article:

Pacific Golden Plover (Pluvialis fulva) by Nikhil Devasar

Pacific Golden Plover (Pluvialis fulva) by Nikhil Devasar

“The birds’ capabilities extend beyond the bounds of our imagination. They can determine their homeward course over long distances, even when all possible aids to orientation have been removed during the disorientation journey. They possess the extraordinary faculty of being able, wherever they are, to determine their position relative to their home territory from their immediate surroundings. And this method of determining location, itself not understood even today, is only the beginning; then comes the real problem, namely flight navigation: mere sense of direction is not enough for this.

During flight over wide, windswept stretches of ocean, a tendency to drift off course cannot be avoided. Such drift must be continually compensated for, as in a feedback system in control technology, in order to avoid losing energy by flying a longer route. The Creator equipped the birds with a precise ‘autopilot,’ which apparently is constantly measuring its geographical position and comparing the data with its individually “programmed” destination. In this way an economical, energy-saving and direct flight is guaranteed. Just where this vital system is to be found and how this operating information is coded is known by no one today except the Creator, who made it.”
To see the whole article – CLICK HERE

 

Birds in Hymns – Praise to the Lord, the Almighty

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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)

Writer: Joachim Neander (1650-1680)
Music: From Praxis Pieatis Melica (1668)

1. Praise to the Lord, the Almighty,
the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy
health and salvation!
All ye who hear,
Now to His temple draw near;
Sing now in glad adoration!

Bald Eagle Flying by Aesthetic Photos

Bald Eagle Flying by Aesthetic Photos

2. Praise to the Lord, who o’er all
things so wondrously reigneth,
Who, as on wings of an eagle,
uplifteth, sustaineth.
Hast thou not seen
How thy desires all have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?

3. Praise to the Lord, who hath fearfully,
wondrously, made thee!
Health hath vouchsafed and, when
heedlessly falling, hath stayed thee.
What need or grief
Ever hath failed of relief?
Wings of His mercy did shade thee.

4. Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper
thy work and defend thee,
Who from the heavens the streams of
His mercy doth send thee.
Ponder anew
What the Almighty can do,
Who with His love doth befriend thee.

5. Praise to the Lord! Oh, let all that
is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come
now with praises before Him!
Let the Amen
Sound from His people again;
Gladly for aye we adore Him.

Most information from The Cyber Hymnal

See ~ Wordless Birds

More ~ Birds in Hymns

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Interesting Things – Reshaped Wings, Forest Birds, Evolution?

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I came across an interesting article in Science News, September 12, 2009, called, “Rapid evolution may be reshaping forest birds’ wings,” by Susan Millius. Subtitle – “Trend for pointier appendages in heavily logged boreal forests, with blunter, rounder ones in reforested parts of New England.”

Boreal Chickadee (Poecile hudsonicus) by Daves BirdingPix

Boreal Chickadee (Poecile hudsonicus) by Daves BirdingPix

Records have been kept on birds that live in the boreal forest of Canada and parts of New England for the past centrury. These areas were heavily logged and left bare or reforested as in parts of New England.

When the records were analyzed, a trend developed. Wings of forest birds where the trees were logged and left bare were longer (approximately by 2 cm) and more pointed, whereas, the forest birds that had the trees replanted and the forest renewed, had shorter (by 2 cm) and rounder wings. They are comparing the same species of birds in both places.

“Mature-woodland species showed the clearest change in pointiness regardless of body size, Desrochers said. During the past century, their long wing feathers, or primary feathers, overall gained about 2.23 millimeters on average. That uptick roughly matches the magnitude of differences between sexes. For example, a female boreal chickadee’s wing today is about the length of a male’s in 1900, he said.

Desrochers also included more southerly species on his list, such as the scarlet tanager and hooded warbler. These birds had experienced a very different century. The landscape of New England, deforested during previous years, rebounded into green woodland again. And here, Desrochers found a trend back toward rounder wing tips. The eight mature-woodland species he studied typically had lost, on average, some 2.37 millimeters on those long primary feathers.

These species aren’t passive victims of environmental change, Desrochers said. As bird species face new challenges, they respond to the extent they can. “Birds are not like sitting ducks,” he said.”

David Winkler said, “It’s surprising that there’s so much change so fast.” He also noted, “doesn’t explicitly address whether the wings change by evolution or by some other process. Winkler said that in observing changes and invoking evolution, “we need to be careful.”

Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) by Kent Nickell

Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) by Kent Nickell

Well, of course, those statements caught my interest. I believe in a Creator who supplies his creation with tremendous capability to adapt and have their needs supplied. I believe in natural selection and variation, but not something turning into something else or “macro-evolution.” I think the bird changed “by some other process,” namely, God’s protective watch-care.

Reading through the comments left, several were of note:

“I wonder what the “evolution might be directed by the species itself” refers to. It’s obvious here that the evolutionary selection of birds with appropriately shaped wings is caused by external forces, nothing the bird is doing. Those birds in areas that are opened up which have slightly longer wings are able to raise more chicks, while those in areas that are being reforested that have more rounded wings are able to raise more chicks. The reason is that distance flying is done more efficiently with longer (and therefore pointier) wings, while maneuverability is required in heavily branched areas and is done with shorter wings.

As for whether the wings are being worn out by contact with branches, this would be evident because the wear at the tip would be obvious. Feather shafts don’t go the whole way to the end of the feather, so if the tips were worn off, it would be noticed”  by DM (very good comment)

“Could the shorter wings of birds in denser forests be due to greater feather wear from brushing against branches and foliage? Maybe all wing feathers start out pointy and simply wear into a rounded shape.” by KC

More searching on the internet turned up a remark about this article at Answers in Genesis with this very interesting statement:  “The report notes that “as bird species face new challenges, they respond to the extent they can.” This comports with the creationist view: God included a range of genetic information and adaptability in organisms to allow them to live properly in a range of habitats.

The scientists aren’t certain how significant a role genes play in the wing tip changes. Still, Cornell University ornithologist David Winkler noted, “It’s surprising that there’s so much change so fast,” and Desrochers calls “rapid evolution” the most direct explanation. The speed of the changes indicates how the created kinds could have speciated rapidly after the Flood. Centuries of accumulated changes between some populations from the same created kinds resulted in sexual incompatibility. However, in other kinds (such as canids; see above), populations retain the ability even if interbreeding is uncommon.”

Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! (Luke 12:24 ESV)

God is providing for the birds and we know He will provide for us, especially if we belong to Him.

Bolding is by Lee.

When I Consider! – Loon

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When I Consider!

When I Consider!

“Evidence From Biology”

The loon is designed quite differently than almost all other birds. While the bodies of most birds are designed as light and aerodynamic as possible, the loon’s body is heavier, allowing it to sink until only its head is above water. It controls its ability to float by inflating or deflating tiny air sacs under its skin. When flying at high altitude, where the air is thin, the loon can conserve oxygen by limiting the flow of blood to its massive leg muscles.

Red-throated Loon (Gavia stellata) by Daves BirdingPix

Red-throated Loon (Gavia stellata) by Daves BirdingPix

The loon also has a perfectly developed reflex which limits the flow of blood to its wings and digestive tract during underwater dives. This allows the loon to hold its breath for long periods of time. Although an average dive lasts about 40 seconds, three-minute dives that cover 300-400 yards are quite common. Astounding dives have been documented where loons have held their breath for as long as 15 minutes while swimming underwater for over 2 miles.

Both common sense and the laws of probability tell us that these many unique abilities could not have evolved by chance processes such as random mutations. The loon could not have developed its unique diving ability in some step-at-a-time manner. It would have starved to death long before it caught its first fish. The system had to work perfectly from the beginning.”

Great Northern Loon (Gavia immer) by J Fenton

Great Northern Loon (Gavia immer) by J Fenton

Character Sketches, Vol III. p.49

For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone. (Psalms 86:10 KJV)

From September 18, A Closer Look at the Evidence, by Richard and Tina Kleiss
More – “When I Consider!”

Lee’s Additions:

“any of five species of diving birds constituting the genus Gavia, family Gaviidae. Loons were formerly included, along with the grebes, to which they bear a superficial resemblance, in the order Colymbiformes, but they are considered to constitute their own separate order. Loons range in length from 60 to 90 cm (2 to 3 feet). Characteristics include a strong tapered bill, small pointed wings, webs between the front three toes, and legs placed far back on the body, which makes walking awkward. Loons have thick plumage that is mainly black or gray above and white below. During the breeding season the dorsal plumage is patterned with white markings, except in the red-throated loon (Gavia stellata), which during the summer is distinguished by a reddish brown throat patch. In winter the red-throated loon develops white speckling on the back, while the other species lose these markings.” (Britannica Online)
“Loons are excellent swimmers, using their feet to propel themselves above and under water and their wings for assistance. Because their feet are far back on the body, loons are poorly adapted to moving on land. They usually avoid going onto land, except when nesting.

Pacific Loon (Gavia pacifica) by Ian

Pacific Loon (Gavia pacifica) by Ian

All loons are decent fliers, though the larger species have some difficulty taking off and thus must swim into the wind to pick up enough velocity to become airborne. Only the Red-throated Diver (G. stellata) can take off from land. Once airborne, their considerable stamina allows them to migrate long distances southwards in winter, where they reside in coastal waters. Loons can live as long as 30 years.”

“The loons are the size of a large duck or small goose, which they somewhat resemble in shape when swimming. Like in these but unlike in coots (which are Rallidae) and grebes (Colymbiformes), their toes are connected by webbing. They may be confused even more readily with cormorants (Phalacrocoracidae), which are not too distant relatives of divers and like them are heaviset birds whose bellies – unlike those of ducks and geese – are submerged when swimming. Flying loons resemble a plump goose with a seagull’s wings, which seem quite small in proportion to the bulky body. They hold their head slightly pointing upwards during swimming, less so than cormorants do, and in flight they let the head decidedly droop down compared to all other aquatic birds of comparable habitus.

Males and females do not differ in plumage. Males are a bit larger on average, but usually this is only conspicuous when directly comparing the two parents. Their plumage is largely patterned black-and-white in summer, with grey on the head and neck in some species, and a white belly in all of them. This resembles many sea-ducks (Merginae) a lot – notably the smaller goldeneyes (Bucephala) – but is distinct from most cormorants which rarely have white feathers, and if so usually as large rounded patches rather than delicate patterns. All species of divers have a spear-shaped bill.”(Wikipedia)

See Also:
Peterson’s Field Guide Video Series on the Common Loon (Now the Great Northern Loon)
Gaviidae – Loons
Loon from Wikipedia
An interesting article in The Wilson Bulletin dated September 1947 – “The Deep Diving of the Loon and Old-Squaw and its Mechanism“

Birds of the Bible – What Birds Can Tell – 1

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Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) by Daves BirdingPix

Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) by Daves BirdingPix

But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; And the birds of the air, and they will tell you; Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; And the fish of the sea will explain to you. Who among all these does not know That the hand of the LORD has done this, (Job 12:7-9 NKJV)

One of my favorite birds that I enjoy watching is the Kingfisher. The ones we have here in Florida (Belted Kingfishers) are rather plain compared to others around the world, but they all have a characteristic look of a very long bill on a large head and a short neck. It is the bill that those in Japan have studied that is amazing.

Japan has electric trains that speed over 200 miles per hour or 322 kilometers per hour. They are very safe and have a great record, but a noise problem had been plaguing them until they observed the Kingfisher’s beak. When the speeding trains went through the tunnels, it caused a “tunnel boom” which goes against their strict sound pollution laws.

Blue-eared Kingfisher (Alcedo meninting) by Nik

Blue-eared Kingfisher (Alcedo meninting) by Nik

“Eiji Nakatsu, the train’s chief engineer and an avid bird-watcher, asked himself, “Is there something in Nature that travels quickly and smoothly between two very different mediums?” Modeling the front-end of the train after the beak of kingfishers, which dive from the air into bodies of water with very little splash to catch fish, resulted not only in a quieter train, but 15% less electricity use even while the train travels 10% faster.” (Learning Efficiency from Kingfishers)

Bullet Train

Bullet Train

The “tunnel boom” is caused  “when a train passes through such a tunnel at high speed, it compresses the air in front of the engine. Upon leaving the tunnel, this air rushes outward, creating a loud thunderclap, or sonic boom. Nearby windows rattle, and people are awakened by the noise.” (Don DeYoung, Answers) When the engineers did wind tunnel experiments they found that “the kingfisher’s bill is ideally shaped for a smooth, streamlined transition from air into water. This drastic change in pressure is similar to the change a bullet train experiences when emerging from a tunnel into the open air.”

By observing one of God’s created birds, the kingfisher, they were able to solve a serious problem. The Lord in His great wisdom has provided us many critters and other things to observe so that they may “tell us” things that will benefit us.

Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the LORD. (Psalms 107:43 KJV)

See Also:

Speeding Bullet – Answers V4, #3
Kingfisher – Train by Discovery of Design
Learning Efficiency from Kingfishers by Biomimicry Institute

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When I Consider! – Elephant Ears and Scarab Beetles

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When I Consider!

When I Consider!

Evidence From Biology – September 12

180px-Aphodius_specThere is an amazing relationship between certain types of elephant ear and the scarab beetle. It has only been recently learned that many elephant ear plants depend completely on the scarab beetle for pollination. Elephant ears make a flower stalk, called a spadix, which has three different kinds of flowers: male, female, and sterile. The beetles are drawn to help in the pollination process of crawling around on the spadix to get to the sterile flowers, which they love to eat. In the process of crawling around on the spadix to get to the sterile flowers, the beetles also pick up pollen from the male flowers and pollinate the female flowers.

Elephant-Ear-Plant

Elephant-Ear-Plant

It is amazing that none of the male or female flowers are ever eaten though they look exactly like the sterile flowers! The plant has produced a sacrificial look-alike in order to attract a specific pollinating insect which has no interest in its productive flowers. How could the plant have known to do this? Why would it ever produce a flower useless except for the actions of another creature? This miraculous interdependency had to have been specifically designed.

Letting God Create Your Day, Vol. 4, p29

O Lord GOD, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your mighty hand, for what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do anything like Your works and Your mighty deeds? (Deuteronomy 3:24 NKJV)

From A Closer Look at the Evidence, September 12, by Richard and Tina Kleiss

See Also:
Mystery of the Elephant Ears at ©Creation Moments

Elephant Ear Story from Cloudbridge Nature Reserve
Miniature Elephant Ear Surprise by A Neotropical Savanna
Xanthosoma Giant Elephant Ear Plants by Central Florida Farms

More  “When I Consider!”  articles.

When I Consider! – Woodpecker and Bones

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When I Consider!

When I Consider!

“Evidence from Biology”

“In His Word, God tells us that He cares for His creatures. One can observe repeated examples of this in nature. Every creature on Earth has been programmed to take care of itself. An example is the female Red-Cockaded Woodpecker, which changes her diet to include more calcium at egg-laying time. Scientist have found that the woodpecker starts gathering, storing, and eating bone fragments a few days before laying her eggs. Bones contain an extremely high concentration of calcium, which is needed for the shells of the woodpecker’s eggs. After her eggs are laid and her body requires less calcium, the woodpecker shows little interest in pieces of bone.

Red-cockaded Woodpecker (Picoides borealis) by Daves BirdingPix

Red-cockaded Woodpecker (Picoides borealis) by Daves BirdingPix

Where did this instinct to eat bones originate? How does the woodpecker know when she can stop eating bone fragments? Would this process have taken place before the Fall, when the world was a perfect paradise? No one knows, but it is apparent that this instinct had to be programmed into the woodpecker for it to survive in the current fallen world. What a leap of faith to believe that the woodpecker’s ability to meet her need for increased calcium just “evolved” by chance!

Letting God Create Your Day, Vol.3, p.22″

Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? (Matthew 6:26 NKJV)

A Closer Look at the Evidence, Aug 5, by Richard and Tina Kleiss

An excerpt from U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, “Red-cockaded Woodpecker Picoides borealis”

“Red-cockaded woodpeckers rarely come to the ground. They even bathe in water-filled depressions on tree limbs. Recent research notes that female red-cockaded woodpeckers search for bone bits on the forest floor and stuff them in tree crevices. Zoologists say it is the first known instance of a bird hoarding something for its mineral, rather than caloric, content. Calcium-rich bone is not rare, but the birds probably seek it to ensure stronger eggshells. They stash it in a tree so they won’t have to eat on the ground where they are vulnerable to predators.”

Birds of the Bible – Migration

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Wood Stork by Lee

Wood Stork by Lee

Even the stork in the sky Knows her seasons; And the turtledove and the swift and the thrush Observe the time of their migration; But My people do not know The ordinance of the LORD. (Jeremiah 8:7 NASB)

That time of the year is approaching and for some birds, it has already started. What? Migration. The birds have been busy all spring and summer having babies, feeding them, raising them, training them, and now it is time to go elsewhere. That is, if they are the kind of bird that migrates. Why do the migrate? Most because of food sources or to stay warm. The hardy “residents” will stay behind and “hold down the fort” so to say.

God has put the instinct in them when they were created to know to “migrate.” Depending on which version of the Bible your read, the stork:

  • knoweth her appointed times
  • is conscious of her fixed times
  • know when it’s time to fly away for the winter and when to come back
  • know when it is time to return
  • knows her seasons

And the dove and swallow and crane (depending on version):

  • observe the time of their coming
  • Observe the time of their migration
  • keep to the times of their coming
  • know when it’s time to migrate
  • watch the time of their coming

For those of us down here in Florida, we get excited because we will finally get to observe some birds as they pass by or as they get here for the winter “vacation.”

Please check out these previous articles about migration. I think you will find them very interesting:

Interesting Things – Amazing Bird Migration
Interesting – Migration and Mechanics of Flight
Pacific Golden Plover
Birds of the Bible – Hawk Migration
A Lesson from the Stork
Too Much Knowledge?
Bird Migration Mistakes – released today
Not a bird, but:
Interesting Things – Dragonflies II

Updated Below: 10-15-09

Migrating Storks from Europe circling the hot air thermals over the Sinai to gain altitude before crossing the Red Sea and continuing on their migration into Africa by dell09875

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Galapagos: Showcase for Creation

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Galapagos: Showcase for Creation, by John D. Morris, Ph.D.* is in this month’s Acts and Facts Magazine from Institute For Creation Research.

Here are a few excerpt from the article:

“The project’s leading question was: Is Galapagos a living laboratory for evolution or a showcase for creation?”

Flightless Cormorant on Galapogos

Flightless Cormorant on Galapogos

“Darwin’s finches, “booby” birds, flightless cormorants, flamingos, frigate birds, etc.,”

“Evolutionists trumpet the several Galapagos finch “species” as arising by adaptation from one species. Creationists agree, but this did not happen through evolution. Normally the finch types segregate by lifestyle according to their beak shape, but in times of stress they interbreed and combine. No evolution here. The flightless cormorants are recognizably related to other species of cormorant on other continents, but these have lost the use of their wings. …”
(See Cormorant Family from Bird Families of the World to see the similarities)

For the whole article CLICK HERE.

Darwin’s FinchesEvidence supporting rapid post-Flood adaptation, by Carl Wieland, is an interesting article in the Creation Magazine.

Darwin’s Finches on Creation Wiki has a good article and photos of some of the finches.

Lee’s Birds of the World

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Tufted Coquette (Lophornis ornatus) by Birdway

Tufted Coquette (Lophornis ornatus) by Birdway

Lee’s Birds of the World, is based on the I.O.C., 2.1 version of 2009. It lists 39 Orders, 224 Families, and 10,340 individual Species. This is new and still being developed. All the ORDERs and the Families are listed. More indexes, photos, links, and Scriptures are still being added. These pages are under the Birds-World Tab above.  Please enjoy looking around at the references to the numerous birds that the Lord has created. It appears by the numbers of the birds that they have done as the verses below declare.

So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth. (Genesis 1:21-22 NKJV)

All photographs have been used with the permission of the photographers listed or are in the public domain. Please honor their copyrights.