Ian’s Bird of the Week – Galah

June 8, 2015 by Ian

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Galah ~ by Ian Montgomery

Newsletter – 6/6/15

I’m back home after cutting short the camping trip in Western Queensland owing to a foot problem which made both camping and walking difficult. The foot is responding well to treatment at home in preparation for the New Caledonian trip in two weeks time. So I didn’t return with lots photos of dry country species for you but I did get treated to a fine display by an extrovert male Galah who came along to distract me while I was putting up my tent in Hughenden.

He wasn’t the only distractor; the camp site know-all gave me a lecture on the order in which to assemble my tent. The Galah was more welcome and I encouraged him, unlike the human, verbally. You can imagine the conversation going a bit like this.
‘I’ve heard that you bring birds fame and fortune with your Bird of the Week email. Can I be your bird of the week?’

‘Sorry Galah was BotW in 2006 (below). I like to have a different species each time.’

‘Ah, pleeeease!!!’ (below)

‘Well, okay, we’ll see. But you’ll have to do something spectacular to make it worth my while.’

‘How about this? I’ll look cute and demented at the same time.’

‘Mmmmh. Not bad but the juvenile Galah did that in 2006 and simultaneously begged for food.’

‘I can hang upside-down and look at you at the same time without losing my grip.’

‘That’s better! Anything else?’

‘I can hang upside-down with just one claw, no safety net, raise my crest and nibble my other foot simultaneously without falling off.’

‘Now that’s impressive: you win. You can be the next bird of the week.’
‘Whoopee, thank you!!! Happy camping!’

At that point the camp-site know-all came along.

The Galah said: ‘Oh no! I’m out of here!’ and flew away. Despite their name, Galahs aren’t stupid.

Just in case you are wondering why I said the bird was a male, it’s all in the eyes. Males have dark brown irises, females have red ones as in the photo above taken on a different occasion at Pentland not that far from Hugenden. This is also the case in Major Mitchell’s Cockatoo.

Greetings

Ian
**************************************************
Ian Montgomery, Birdway Pty Ltd,
454 Forestry Road, Bluewater, Qld 4818
Tel 0411 602 737 ian@birdway.com.au
Bird Photos http://www.birdway.com.au/

Where to Find Birds in Northern Queensland: iTunes; Google Play Kobo Books
Recorder Society http://www.nqrs.org.au

Lee’s Addition:

The works of the LORD are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. (Psalms 111:2 KJV)

What a delightful newsletter. Sorry about your foot though, Ian. We will be praying that you heal quickly so you can make that next trip. Who knows what adventure you will come back to tell us about?

As many of my readers know, the Galah has become on of my favorite birds. Every since our encounter with the Galah at Brevard Zoo, when this photo was taken.

Galah (Eolophus roseicapilla) and Dan

Ian’s Birds of the Week
Ian’s Cockatoo Family Photos
Birdwatching Adventure to Brevard Zoo in Viera, FL
Just Back From A Birdwatching Adventure – Viera
Cockatoos – Cacatuidae Family
Sharing The Gospel

Dubai World Record Eagle Flight

June 7, 2015 by Lee

You will enjoy watching this video sent to me from a friend. They took an eagle up to tallest building in the world in Dubai and released him. He has a camera strapped to him.

He then comes down and lands on his handler’s outstretched arm. Amazing footage.

Eagles are an amazing creation from the Lord.

Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven. (Proverbs 23:5 KJV)

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 KJV)

Sunday Inspiration – Figbirds, Orioles and Drongos

June 7, 2015 by Lee

Today we have the Figbirds, Orioles and Drongo which reside in two more Passerine families. The Pitohuis are included and are members in the Oriolidae – Figbirds, Orioles Family.

Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof: so he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured. (Proverbs 27:18 KJV)

Black-naped Oriole Lowry Park Zoo by Lee

The Old World Orioles (Oriolidae – Figbirds, Orioles) are an Old World family of passerine birds that has 38 members. The orioles and figbirds are medium-sized passerines, around 20–30 cm in length, with the females only slightly smaller than the males. The beak is slightly curved and hooked, and, except in the figbirds, as long again as the head. The plumage of most species is bright and showy, although the females often have duller plumage than the males do. The plumage of many Australasian orioles mimics that of friarbirds (a genus of large honeyeaters), probably to reduce aggression against the smaller orioles. The family is distributed across Africa, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The few temperate nesting species are migratory, and some tropical species also show seasonal movements. Orioles are arboreal and tend to feed in the canopy.

Spangled Drongo (Dicrurus bracteatus) ©WikiC

The Dicruridae – Drongos has 25 species. These insectivorous birds are usually found in open forests or bush. Most are black or dark grey in colour, sometimes with metallic tints. They have long forked tails; some Asian species have elaborate tail decorations. They have short legs and sit very upright whilst perched, like a shrike. They flycatch or take prey from the ground. Some drongos, especially the greater racket-tailed drongo, are noted for their ability to mimic other birds and even mammals.

Two to four eggs are laid in a nest high in a tree. Despite their small size, they are aggressive and fearless, and will attack much larger species if their nest or young are threatened.

The word drongo is used in Australia as a mild form of insult tantamount to the term “idiot”. This usage derives from an Australian racehorse of the same name (apparently after the spangled drongo, Dicrurus bracteatus) in the 1920s that never won despite many starts. (Info from Wikipedia)

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Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. (Matthew 21:21-22 KJV)

Listen to The Hyssongs play and sing as you watch these two beautifully created families of birds:

“He Touched Me ” ~ ©The Hyssongs

Sunday Inspirations

Birds of the World

Oriolidae – Figbirds, Orioles
Dicruridae – Drongos
Figbird – Wikipedia
Oriolus – Wikipedia
Drongo – Wikipedia

Pastor Jerry Smith – Testimony

Appreciating Baltimore Orioles and My First Bird Book

June 2, 2015 by James J. S. Johnson

“Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?” Matthew 6:26

Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) ©USFWS

As beautiful and valuable as the Baltimore Oriole is—especially to Marylanders—God has made us children of Adam, even in our fallen (and redeemable) condition, “much better than they”. God truly cares for us and for our needs, including our need for truth and our need to belong to Him, through the saving merits of our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus.

Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) Male by Nature’s Hues

The Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula), a small migratory icterid (i.e., member of the blackbird family) is the state bird of Maryland. Adults grow to about 7 or 8 inches long. Migrating south for the winter, the Baltimore Orioles summer in most of America’s “lower 48” states, except not in the coastal southeast (from Texas’s Gulf coast up to Virginia’s coast). But the only orioles I saw were the pictures on baseball caps (and usually that came from looking at baseball cards)! As a small boy my family often listened to radio broadcasts of Baltimore Oriole baseball games.

Even the coloring of the Baltimore Oriole is appropriate, to represent the state of Maryland, because the state flag of Maryland has a combination of gold (or golden yellow), black, white, and red.

Flag of Maryland

The Baltimore Oriole has three of those four colors—but no red. Although I was physically born outside of Maryland (at a very young age!), all of my boyhood and youth (20 years) were spent somewhere within the “Old Line State”. And, as described below, it was in Maryland where I received my first bird book, as well as where I first believed in the Creator of all birds: the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is both my Creator and my Savior. In the next few paragraphs I will briefly mention my introduction to the “creation controversy”, and how that topic was linked to my first bird book.

Creation can be controversial! Learning to appreciate Genesis, and its foundational truths, has been an ongoing adventure for me. As a pre-school child I was generally taught, by my parents, that the Holy Bible was God’s Word, and that God made everything, including me. Not until kindergarten, however, would I learn that some people disagreed about God being the Creator. There was no public kindergarten (in Waldorf, Maryland) when I was old enough to attend one, so my parents enrolled me in a private kindergarten taught by a Mrs. Wheeler, a local Baptist lady who taught in her home. (Mrs. Wheeler’s faith was “different” from that of my parents, but “not in a bad way … you’ll do fine at her school”.) Mrs. Wheeler always prayed reverently and thankfully when we had snacks. Mrs. Wheeler also taught that the Bible was God’s Word.

Magnet with clips stuck to it

As a kindergartener I enjoyed learning to match words (specifically, nouns of concrete things) to alphabet letters, finding at least two words for each alphabet letter (when our class was assigned the task of finding one each!), until the letter X stumped me—x-ray was the only words that I know of, that started with an X. One day Mrs. Wheeler taught us to touch a magnet to various physical objects. Some were instantly attracted but others were not. Mrs. Wheeler’s college-attending daughter was there, that day, being home “on break”, so she was helping her mother with us kindergarteners. Probably not noticing that I was listening, the daughter asked (something like), “Why are you trying to teach them about magnets? Science like that is way over their heads. They won’t understand.” Mrs. Wheeler’s reply I will never forget: “Soon these kids will be taught that ‘science’, without God, explains life, and they will wonder if intelligent people should believe in God and the Bible. I want them to have a memory, from kindergarten, that the first person to teach them any ‘science’ was someone who believed in Jesus and the Bible, and who prayed with them.” Wow! That astounded me! When I went to “big school”, like my older brother, I would be taught to learn “science” but no Bible!—nothing about God. Why would “big school” be like that? So Mrs. Wheeler, with her daughter’s help, had just warned me that a godless version of “science” awaited me. In second grade, at Damascus (Maryland), I would learn more about this controversy.

At the end of second grade, while being given my first bird book, I learned more Genesis apologetics, from Mrs. Thelma Bumgardner (see picture of the bird book, BIRDS, A GUIDE TO THE MOST FAMILIAR AMERICAN BIRDS [NY: Golden Press/Golden Nature Guide, 1964; co-authored by Herbert S. Zim & Ira N. Gabrielson; illustrated by James Gordon Irving; 160 pages].

Guide to Most Familiar Birds

The bird book I still have, to this day (shown above, next to her obituary notice). How did it happen? Why was it so important that I remember it now, more than a half-century later? It was Mrs. Bumgardner’s custom to give a bird book to one boy and to one girl, at the end of the school year. The privileged girl was Mary Kellogg; the privileged boy was me. When explaining the gift to me Mrs. Bumgardner said that the pictures would help me to learn about many beautiful birds that God made, and that He made them to live in different kinds of places and eat different kinds of foods. Then she turned to pages 12-13, which presented an official-looking Family Tree of Birds”, beginning with this sentence: “Birds developed from reptile ancestors millions of years ago, as internal structures and scaly legs still show.” Mrs. Bumgardner said that the chart was not true, that some people who didn’t like to admit that God made birds (like the Bible said He did) invented the chart to pretend that birds accidentally become what they are by something called “evolution”. “It’s all just a lie, so they won’t have to think about Who God is”, Mrs. Bumgardner warned me, “but don’t worry about the false ideas on those two pages—just enjoy the rest of the book, because the rest of the book teaches a lot of true facts about God’s birds.” Wow! Again I was surprised—who would think that liars would put pictures in a book so they could try to forget Who God is? The bird book is a treasure I never forgot—and I love it to this day.

Perhaps you are wondering if my bird book included mention of the Baltimore Oriole. It did! On page 108, with a picture and range map, it says: “The brilliant male is a showy bird . The female is a dull orange-yellow with two pale wing bars. Bullock’s Oriole (8 in.) of the West is like the Baltimore but has orange on sides of head and over eye. The Orchard Oriole (6½ in.), east of the Rockies, is also similar, but with chestnut, not orange. The female Orchard Oriole resembles the female Baltimore but is greenish-yellow instead of orange-yellow.”

Speaking of orange, providing oranges (i.e., the citrus fruit), halved, is known to attract orioles—they love to eat fruits, such as oranges, berries, or even grape jelly. Leafy deciduous trees or thick shrub foliage might attract them to your backyard, especially if your backyard provides a “total package” of food, water, sheltering foliage, and trees suitable for their deep bag-like hanging nests. They immigrate north during in spring (late March or early April) and emigrate south in autumn.

Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) on nest by Kent Nickell

Mrs. Bumgardner also taught us about John 3:16, which I would rely upon in a very personal away 3½ years later; she also would pray for us, telling us that she knew that the Supreme Court wouldn’t like that, but that the prophet Daniel was told not to pray and he did anyway—and God took care of Daniel, so He would take care of her. Still I remember knowing that Mrs. Bumgardner loved us second-graders, and she cared that we would learn to appreciate God, and it was obvious that she herself loved God and His Word. It was during the first half of my sixth grade year, however, before I would confirm my own personal belief in the Lord Jesus, as my personal Savior and Shepherd, but God foreknew that day was coming—and one day I will thank both Mrs. Wheeler and Mrs. Bumgardner, face-to-face, for caring enough to creatively teach me the truth about my Creator-God.

Meanwhile, ever since the end of second grade I have been enjoying my bird book (and many more that I have acquired since then), knowing how God cares about those beautiful birds—who have such variety. Yet He cares so much more for me (as John 3:16 proves).

What a wonderful start I was given to a happy habit of birdwatching (decades before I would ever teach ornithology at Dallas Christian College), — and Mrs. Bumgardner’s bird book disclaimer, by God’s providence, foreshadowed my later years as a teacher of Genesis-based creation studies!

Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) Female by Nature’s Hues

Sunday Inspiration – Shrikes and Vireos

May 31, 2015 by Lee

Loggerhead Shrike (Lanius ludovicianus) by ©Wiki

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)

Shrikes are passerine birds of the family Laniidae. The family is composed of thirty-three species in three genera. The family name, and that of the largest genus, Lanius, is derived from the Latin word for “butcher”, and some shrikes are also known as “butcher birds” because of their feeding habits. They are fairly closely related to the bush-shrike family Malaconotidae.

Most shrike species have a Eurasian and African distribution, with just two breeding in North America (the loggerhead and great grey shrikes). There are no members of this family in South America or Australia, although one species reaches New Guinea. The shrikes vary in the extent of their ranges, with some species like the great grey shrike ranging across the northern hemisphere to the Newton’s fiscal which is restricted to the island of São Tomé. They inhabit open habitats, especially steppe and savannah. A few species of shrike are forest dwellers, seldom occurring in open habitats. Some species breed in northern latitudes during the summer, then migrate to warmer climes for the winter.

Shrikes are medium-sized birds, up to 50 cm (20 in) in length, with grey, brown, or black and white plumage. Their beaks are hooked, like that of a bird of prey, reflecting their predatory nature, and their calls are strident.

Shrikes are known for their habit of catching insects and small vertebrates and impaling their bodies on thorns, the spikes on barbed-wire fences or any available sharp point. This helps them to tear the flesh into smaller, more conveniently sized fragments, and serves as a cache so that the shrike can return to the uneaten portions at a later time.

Yellow-throated Vireo (Vireo flavifrons) by Anthony 747

By them the birds of the heavens have their home; They sing among the branches. (Psalms 104:12 NKJV)

The vireos make up a family, Vireonidae, of small to medium-sized passerine birds (mostly) restricted to the New World. They are typically dull-plumaged and greenish in color, the smaller species resembling wood warblers apart from their heavier bills. They range in size from the Chocó vireo, dwarf vireo and lesser greenlet, all at around 10 centimeters and 8 grams, to the peppershrikes and shrike-vireos at up to 17 centimeters and 40 grams.

Most species are found in Middle America and northern South America. Thirteen species of true vireos occur farther north, in the United States, Bermuda and Canada; of these all but Hutton’s vireo are migratory. Members of the family seldom fly long distances except in migration (Salaman & Barlow 2003). They inhabit forest environments, with different species preferring forest canopies, undergrowth, or mangrove swamps.

Males of most species are persistent singers. Songs are usually rather simple, monotonous in some species of the Caribbean littoral and islands, and most elaborate and pleasant to human ears in the Chocó vireo and the peppershrikes. (Info from Wikipedia)

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And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people; (Genesis 28:3 KJV)

And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, (Genesis 48:3 KJV)

Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. (Revelation 11:17 KJV)

And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. (Revelation 15:3 KJV)

Listen to Nell Reese play as you watch these two beautifully created families of birds:

“El Shaddai” – by Nell Reese

“El Shaddai” means “God Almighty”

Sunday Inspirations

Birds of the World

Laniidae – Shrikes
Vireonidae – Vireos, Greenlets

Shrike – Wikipedia

Vireo – Wikipedia

Sharing The Gospel

Ian’s Bird of the Week – White-browed Scrubwren

May 30, 2015 by Ian

Ian’s Bird of the Week – White-browed Scrubwren ~ by Ian Montgomery

Newsletter – 5/28/15

I said in the last bird of the week that the Atherton Scrubwren was ‘probably the least distinctive of the Wet Tropics Endemics’. By that I meant it was hard to identify with certainty owing to lack of distinguishing field marks and I didn’t intend to imply that it was otherwise undistinguished. I’m actually very fond of scrubwrens. They are assertive little birds with lots of character, so here is the most widespread one, the White-browed Scrubwren by way of amends! It occurs right along the coasts of eastern, southern and western Australia from Mossman – not far north of where we were at Lake Tinaburra a few weeks ago – in far north Queensland (FNQ) to just north of Carnarvon in Western Australia. The one in the first photo was in the company of the Atherton Scrubwrens near the ‘amenities’ block in the campground.

White-browed Scrubwrens vary in plumage by location and there has been considerable disagreement among avian taxonomists over the centuries over how to divide them into species and sub-species or races. Schodde and Mason described 12 races in their authoritative Directory of Australian Birds (1999). However, the various races grade into each other and are often only distinguishable in the hand or museum. Criteria such as “feet pale flesh, drying consistently pale brownish cream, lower mandible drying variously bone to sometimes rather dusky” is not something even the most patient field worker would use.

So, it’s more usual now to lump these races into 3 mainland groups and the treat the Tasmanian ones as a separate species. We’ll take a clockwise trip from Tinaburra in FNQ to Cheynes Beach in southwest Western Australia to look at these, and then come back to the Tasmanian species. The females are paler, less-contrasty versions of the males, so we’ll just consider males, once we’ve looked at the two sexes in the distinctive Queensland race, laevigaster. The one in the first photo is a female, while the one in the second is a male. Both sexes have pale underparts that look pale yellow or buff, strong white eyebrow extending well behind the eyes and no white line just under the eye (suborbital). The male has a strikingly black mask extending over the ear-coverts, and is, in my opinion, the smartest of the White-browed Scrubwrens and looks somewhat like a pale Yellow-throated Scrubwren.

South of the Queensland border we encounter the nominate race group, frontalis. This group extends all the way through New South Wales and Victoria into eastern South Australia. The one in the third photo, taken in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, is more rufous on the back and flanks than the Queensland race, the black on the face is limited to the lores in front of the eye (the ear coverts are grey), the eyebrow fizzles out behind the eye and the there is a faint suborbital white line.

The birding singing lustily in the fourth photo near Melbourne is also of the nominate group, though it looks darker overall and has even less of an eyebrow.

When we get to Western Australia, we encounter the ‘spotted Scrubwren’, race maculatus with dark spots on the throat and breast, buffish underparts, a long eyebrow, a clear suborbital line and, like the nominate group, the black face mask limited to in front of the eye.

The sixth photo shows the Tasmanian one It was first described as a separate species by Gould in 1838; lumped in with the other White-browed Scrubwrens in the 20th century and now restored to the grand status of a full species in the 21st century. In taxonomy, plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose, a quote from 1849, though Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr probably wasn’t thinking of taxonomy at the time. He did, however, have two varieties of Dahlia and a bamboo named after him. Anyway, The Tasmanian one is very dark, though in other ways such as its faint white markings on the head it looks quite like the Victorian one in the fourth photo, though the white epaulettes are very distinct. It’s also quite large by Scrubwren standards (12-14cm/4-5in in length).

Scrubwrens inhabit dense undergrowth, but as long as that is provided they occur in wide variety of habitats from rainforest to scrubby heaths and are quite common. They are both vocal and curious, responding well to ‘pishing’ noises, so they are easier to find than their choice of habitat would suggest. They’re very active, foraging near the ground, often in leaf litter for insects or other invertebrates. The breed in pairs or groups consisting of a breeding pair and helper birds, an arrangement that seems remarkably widespread across Australian bird families.

I’m off the western Queensland on Saturday. Hopefully, I’ll have some interesting dry country birds for you but don’t expect anything for another couple of weeks.

Greetings
Ian

**************************************************
Ian Montgomery, Birdway Pty Ltd,
454 Forestry Road, Bluewater, Qld 4818
Tel 0411 602 737 ian@birdway.com.au
Bird Photos http://www.birdway.com.au/
Where to Find Birds in Northern Queensland: iTunes; Google Play Kobo Books
Recorder Society http://www.nqrs.org.au

Lee’s Addition:

Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.” (Gen 1:20)

I find these Scrubwrens that Ian has been introducing very cute and interesting. Last week’s Atherton Scrubwren and now these two species are the little bird types that drive me crazy trying to photograph. Ian has a knack for getting great photos. Thanks, Ian, for sharing these with us. Happy hunting on you new quest.

Ian’s Bird of the Week

Ian’s Whole Acanthizidae Family

Acanthizidae – Australasian Warblers

My Western Greater Roadrunners

May 29, 2015 by Lee

Roadrunner in Ft Stockton TX by Lee

And the owl, and the night hawk, and the cuckoo, and the hawk after his kind, (Lev 11:16)

While on our vacation to the West (USA) I wanted to see the Greater Runner. It was one of the top birds on my “to see” list. Disappointed by not finding one in the wild, we were not totally disappointed. Surprised, but not disappointed. I actually saw some years ago, but wanted to photograph a wild one.

When we stopped in Fort Stockton, Texas, we visited the original Camp Stockton and then went to see the “22 foot” Roadrunner. No kidding, it is 22 feet long and 11 feet tall. Of course it was not a live roadrunner. I have since learned that his name is “Paisano Pete.”

(Bonus) Apparently Fort Stockton likes “big birds” because we found a large chicken also.

Large Chicken in Ft Stockton TX by Lee

An actual “roadrunner, also known as a chaparral bird and a chaparral cock, is a fast-running ground cuckoo that has a long tail and a crest. It is found in the southwestern United States and Mexico, usually in the desert. Some have been clocked at 20 miles per hour (32 km/h).”

“The subfamily Neomorphinae, the New World ground cuckoos, includes eleven species of birds, while the genus Geococcyx has just two, the greater roadrunner and the lesser roadrunner. The Greater Roadrunner, (Geococcyx californianus), inhabits Mexico and the southwestern United States. The Lesser Roadrunner, (Geococcyx velox), inhabits Mexico and Central America.” (Wikipedia)

Well, “Paisano Pete” definitely would not count as a real bird, so I had to keep looking. We saw some in a Zoo or two, but when we got to the Living Desert Zoo in California, we were able to really see two of them. They were in an aviary where we saw them up close and not through a cage wire. These are the Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus). One was warming itself by exposing its feathers on the back and the other was trying to kill a dead mouse and chase a Turkey Vulture around. Got within two feet of one of them.

Roadrunner Warming up at Living Desert Zoo CA

Roadrunner with mouse at Living Desert Zoo CA by Lee

: Large Chicken in Ft Stockton TX by Lee

: Roadrunner in Ft Stockton TX

: Roadrunner Warming up at Living Desert Zoo CA

: Roadrunner in Ft Stockton TX

: Roadrunner at Living Desert Zoo CA by Lee

: Roadrunner in Ft Stockton TX by Lee

: Roadrunner with mouse at Living Desert Zoo CA by Lee

: Big Chicken in Ft Stockton TX

Fort Stockton, Texas: Paisano Pete: Giant Roadrunner

Paisano Pete

Living Desert Zoo and Garden

Fort Stockton, Texas – Wikipedia

Greater Roadrunner – Wikipedia

Birds of the Bible – Cuckoo

Cuckoos – Cuculidae Family

DINOSAUR-TO-BIRD EVOLUTION CHALLENGED – (Repost)

May 28, 2015 by Lee

Dino to Bird Display – Desert Museum Tucson by Lee

DINOSAUR-TO-BIRD EVOLUTION CHALLENGED

“For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.” (Psalm 1:6)

Most evolutionists today hold to the belief that modern-day birds evolved from dinosaurs. In fact, they now feel that large, carnivorous theropods like T. Rex rapidly shrank over a period of 50 million years until they evolved into our fine feathered friends.

William Beebe’s hypothetical -Tetrapteryx- with four wings 1915

An image drawn in 1915 by naturalist William Beebe suggests a hypothetical view of what early birds may have looked like. But not all evolutionists agree with this belief. Some, in fact, claim that birds evolved into dinosaurs. A study published in PNAS, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, provides evidence that birds did not descend from ground-dwelling theropod dinosaurs.

According to Oregon State University zoology professor John Ruben, the research was well done and consistent with a string of studies in recent years that pose an increasing challenge to the birds-from-dinosaurs theory. The weight of the evidence, he added, is now suggesting that not only did birds not descend from dinosaurs, but that some species now believed to be dinosaurs may have descended from birds.

Professor Ruben’s most revealing comment, however, was that the old dinosaurs-to-birds theories, instead of carefully interpreting the data, had public appeal, and that “many people saw what they wanted to see.”

How true for scientists on both sides of this issue! When scientists start with the assumption that evolution is true, then every bit of evidence they uncover will support evolution. They don’t even consider a third option – that God made the birds on the fifth day of Creation Week and the land-dwelling dinosaurs on the sixth day.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, while people say that the Bible is not a science textbook, Your book does provide factual information that scientists would be wise to take into consideration. Open their eyes, I pray. Amen.

Notes:
“Bird-from-dinosaur theory of evolution challenged: Was it the other way around?”, ScienceDaily, Source: Oregon State University, 2-10-10. Illustration: An image drawn in 1915 by naturalist William Beebe suggests a hypothetical view of what early birds may have looked like.

Reposted with permission – ©Creation Moments 2015

Lee’s Addition:

While at the Desert Museum recently, I took these pictures of this “Dinosaur to Bird’ display on one of their walls. It is seen more and more at zoos and museums, especially near the bird exhibits. Their exhibit started with the critters in the water, then fish type, getting out of the water, etc. until you have the dinosaur turning into a bird.

: Dino to Bird Display – Desert Museum Tucson by Lee

: Dino to Bird Display – Desert Museum Tucson by Lee

: Dino to Bird Display – Desert Museum Tucson by Lee

: Dino to Bird Display – Desert Museum Tucson by Lee

: Dino to Bird Display – Desert Museum Tucson by Lee

: Dino to Bird Display – Desert Museum Tucson by Lee

: Dino to Bird Display – Desert Museum Tucson by Lee

: Dino to Bird Display – Desert Museum Tucson by Lee

: Dino to Bird Display – Desert Museum Tucson by Lee

God’s Word – The Bible states “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 Cor 15:39)

Creation Moments

PENGUINS WITH SUNGLASSES – (Re-post)

May 26, 2015 by Lee

Adelie Penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) by Daves BirdingPix

PENGUINS WITH SUNGLASSES

“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;” (Hebrews 1:3)

Have you ever gone outside on a bright, sunny day and been almost blinded by the light? Then imagine what it must be like for penguins to go about their lives with the intense glare of polar sunlight reflecting off a snowy or watery landscape.

Penguins, of course, can’t slip on a pair of sunglasses, but they don’t need to. These marvelous birds have an external eye fluid that filters out blue and ultraviolet wavelengths from the solar spectrum. This gives them clear vision while protecting their eyes from harm. As you might have guessed, eagles, falcons, hawks and other birds of prey also have this fluid.

Inspired by these birds, scientists have been able to develop an orange-colored dye and filter that duplicates the penguin’s retinal fluid. The orange dye has been used to produce orange-tinted sunglasses which provide improved vision in bright sunlight and on foggy days.

According to Donald DeYoung’s book Discovery of Design, many welders now use orange-colored masks that are safer and more transparent than the old-style dark masks that made it difficult for them to see. There is also the hope that orange-tinted glasses may someday help patients suffering from visual loss due to cataracts or macular degeneration.

When engineers and designers look at nature to design new products and product improvements, they are looking at intelligent designs, not the products of chance and billions of years. The “sunglasses” worn by penguins were designed by their Creator!

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I am filled with gratitude that You have given me not only eyes to see the world around me but spiritual eyes that can see the truths in Your Word! Amen.

Notes:
“Penguin Eye – Sunglasses”, Discovery of Design, D. DeYoung and D. Hobbs, pp. 112-113, Master Books, Second Printing, 2012. Photo: Courtesy of Flip619. Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

(Used with permission of Creation Moments)

Lee’s Addition:

Wisdom is in the sight of him who has understanding, But the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth. (Pro 17:24)

It continues to amaze me that men keep discovering so many useful things in the design of the critters that the Lord has created, yet refuse to honor or acknowledge Him. That eye protection is just another example of the Lord’s love and care of His Creation.

Creation Moments

More Interesting Things

Sunday Inspiration – Whistlers and Avian Friends

May 24, 2015 by Lee

But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. (1 John 2:5 KJV)

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. (1 John 5:3 KJV)

Mohoua is a small genus of three bird species endemic to New Zealand. Their taxonomic placement has presented problems: They have typically been placed in the Pachycephalidae family (whistlers), but in 2013 it was established that they are best placed in their own family, Mohouidae.

All three species display some degree of sexual dimorphism in terms of size, with the males being the larger of the two sexes. Mohoua are gregarious and usually forage in groups . They also forage in mixed species flocks at times, frequently forming the nucleus of such flocks. Social organization and behavior is well documented for all three Mohoua species; cooperative breeding has been observed in all three species and is common in the Whitehead and Yellowhead. The three species of this genus are the sole hosts for the Long-tailed Cuckoo which acts as a brood parasite upon them, pushing their eggs out of the nest and laying a single one of its own in their place so that they take no part in incubation of their eggs or in raising their young.

Varied Sittella (Daphoenositta chrysoptera) Male by Ian

The three Sittellas are in the Neosittidae family. are small passerines which resemble nuthatches in appearance.[1] The wings are long and broad, and when spread have clearly fingered tips. The family has a generally weak flight, which may explain their inability to colonize suitable habitat on islands like Tasmania. The legs are short but they have long toes, but in spite of their lifestyle they show little adaptation towards climbing. They have short tails and are between 10–14 cm in length and 8–20 g in weight, with the black sittella tending to be slightly larger and heavier. The bill is dagger shaped in the case of the black sittella and slightly upturned in the varied sittella. The plumage of the black sittella is mostly black with a red face; that of the varied sittella is more complex, with the numerous subspecies having many variations on the theme. The calls of sittellas are generally simple and uncomplicated. The sittellas are social and generally restless birds of scrub, forests and woodlands. In Australia they generally avoid only the dense rainforest, whereas in New Guinea this is the only habitat they inhabit, avoiding only lowland forest.

Wattled Ploughbill (Eulacestoma nigropectus) ©Drawing WikiC

The Wattled Ploughbill is a small, approximately 14 cm long, olive-brown songbird with a strong, thick, wedge-shaped black bill, used to plough into dead tree branches, bark and twigs in search for its insects diet. The sexes are different. The male has black underparts, black wings and a large circular pink wattle on the cheek. The female has olive-green plumage and pale olive below. Only the adult male has wattles.

The only member of the monotypic genus Eulacestoma and family Eulacestomidae, the wattled ploughbill is distributed and endemic to central mountain ranges of New Guinea. The diet consists mainly of insects.

Crested Bellbird (Oreoica gutturalis) ©WikiC

Oreoicidae is a newly recognized family of small insectivorous songbirds, formerly placed in the Old World warbler “wastebin” family. It contains 3 species, all in different genera. Rufous-naped Whistler, Crested Pitohui and Crested Bellbird.

Australian Golden Whistler (Pachycephala pectoralis) by Ian

The Whistler family has 56 species. The family Pachycephalidae, collectively the whistlers, includes the whistlers, shrikethrushes, shriketits, pitohuis and crested bellbird, and is part of the ancient Australo-Papuan radiation of songbirds. Its members range from small to medium in size, and occupy most of Australasia. Australia and New Guinea are the centre of their diversity, and in the case of the whistlers, the South Pacific islands as far as Tonga and Samoa and parts of Asia as far as India. The exact delimitation of boundaries of the family are uncertain.

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For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39 KJV)

He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:8-10 KJV)

Listen to Dr. Richard Gregory sing as you watch these five beautifully created families of birds:

“The Love of God” ~ Dr. Richard Gregory

Sunday Inspirations

Birds of the World

Mohouidae – Whiteheads
Neosittidae – Sittellas
Eulacestomidae – Ploughbill
Oreoicidae – Australo-Papuan Bellbirds
Pachycephalidae – Whistlers and allies

*

Whitehead – Wikipedia
Sittella – Wikipedia
Ploughbill – Wikipedia
Oreoicidae – Wikipedia
Pachycephalidae – Whistlers – Wikipedia

Gideon

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Atherton Scrubwren

May 22, 2015 by Ian

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Atherton Scrubwren ~ by Ian Montgomery

Newsletter – 05-18-15

I’ve just spent a few relaxing days camping with friends on the shores of Lake Tinaroo on the Atherton Tableland west of Cairns, so here is the eponymous Atherton Scrubwren a pair of which were foraging in the undergrowth on the edge of the rainforest behind the toilet block. You do of course take your camera with you everywhere, don’t you?

This is one of about a dozen bird species that are endemic to the Wet Tropics of Northeastern Queensland. Like several others, e.g. the Golden Bowerbird and the Mountain Thornbill, it is a bird of the highland rainforest, usually found about 600m/2000ft, occasionally down to 400m/1300ft. Lake Tinaroo is at an altitude of 670m/2200ft and be reached by the Gillies Highway from Gordonvale. This highway follows an extraordinary and interminably windy route up the escarpment from the coast, and is the only route on which I suffer from motion sickness even when I’m doing the driving. It is very scenic with spectacular views over the Goldsborough Valley, if you are feeling well enough to appreciate them.

The Atherton Scrubwren is probably the least distinctive of the Wet Tropics endemics, being small (13.5cm/5.3in long), brown and unobtrusive and very similar to the more widespread, slightly smaller Large-billed Scrubwren (third photo) found in rainforests along the east coast of Australia from Cooktown in NE Queensland almost to Melbourne. Their ranges overlap in the Wet Tropics below 750m/2500ft, the usual upper limit of the Large-billed, and the species differ in subtle differences in colour and facial pattern and foraging behaviour.

The best field-marks are the difference in angle of the bill: straight in the Atherton (second photo) and bent slightly upwards in the Large-billed (third photo). The Atherton forages on or closes to the ground (the one in photos 1 and 2 was about 30cm/12in above the ground), while the Large-billed is arboreal and forages on the branches and in the foliage of trees. The Atherton has a buff eye-stripe which merges with the lower part of the face and throat, has dark flanks and under-tail coverts and a yellowish wash on the breast and underside. The Large-billed is supposed to have a beady eye, but that’s getting even more subtle.

Despite the similarities between these two species, genetic studies indicate that the Atherton Scrubwren is probably more closely related to the well-known – and easier to identify – White-browed Scrubwren which occurs in eastern, southern and western Australia and was also present near where we were camping.

Greetings
Ian

**************************************************
Ian Montgomery, Birdway Pty Ltd,
454 Forestry Road, Bluewater, Qld 4818
Tel 0411 602 737 ian@birdway.com.au
Check the latest website updates:
http://www.birdway.com.au/#updates/

Lee’s Addition:

Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.” (Mat 13:31-32)

Ian has introduced us to some more of his Australian Scrubwrens, plus a tip to always carry your camera. They seem to be such tiny birds. Glad they posed for Ian at that beautiful lake.

Ian’s Whole Acanthizidae Family

Acanthizidae – Australasian Warblers

Alexander And The Fishing Contest

May 20, 2015 by GuestWriter

Brown Pelican and Laughing Gull by Dan MacDill Shore 2014

Alexander and the Fishing Contest ~ by Emma Foster

Once there was a pelican named Alexander who lived near the beach. Every day, he would go fishing and he would always bring his favorite fishing pole. One day, as he was flying to the shore, he landed on a huge rock and noticed a sign on the beach. Alexander read the sign. The sign said in big, red letters:

FISHING CONTEST TODAY,

FREE ADMISSION FOR ALL AGES.

FIRST PRIZE FOR THE BIGGEST FISH IS A NEW BOAT.

Alexander decided he would join the fishing contest to see if he could catch the biggest fish. All day he practiced his fishing Every now and then Alexander would catch a fish, but he knew there was a bigger fish somewhere in the water. At noon, it was time for the fishing contest to start and many people had entered. There were people sitting on the beach fishing as far as Alexander could see. A referee blew a whistle and the contest began. Eventually fish started biting and Alexander caught a few, but he knew there was a bigger fish somewhere in the ocean.

Pelican Reaching in water – Flickr Nagarajan Kanna

And then, something started tugging on Alexander’s line. He had to pull so hard Alexander almost fell off the rock he was fishing on. Eventually, Alexander had to dive down and scoop part of the fish up in his beak and pull the fish out of the water and drag it onto the shore. The referee blew his whistle again to signal that the contest was over. The judges came over to look at Alexander’s fish and immediately agreed that his fish was the winner. Alexander’s fish was almost twelve feet long! From then on, whenever Alexander went fishing, he brought his favorite fishing pole and his new boat The End

Lee’s Addition:

Simon Peter went up and dragged the net to land, full of large fish, one hundred and fifty-three; and although there were so many, the net was not broken. (Joh 21:11)

Well our young writer, Emma, has really come up with a “fish story” this time. She has such a great creative mind and even though the story is a little far-fetched, I like it very much. I wonder if Peter’s net contained any fish as large as Alexander’s? Humm? *

Read more of Emma’s stories

Bird Tails

Wordless Birds

Lee's Birdwatching Adventures Plus

Birdwatching from a Christian Perspective

Tag Archives: Home School

Ian’s Bird of the Week – Galah