Tag Archives: Pearl

Pearly Gates and Pearly Birds

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The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. (Revelation 21:21 NKJV)

With the Precious Stones of the Foundations of the New Jerusalem completed, it is interesting to look at the next verse. The twelve stones were mentioned in Revelation 21:19,20. Yet, in the next verse two more precious stones or minerals are mentioned; Gold and Pearls.

It says that each gate was all one pearl. As I told a friend recently, I would have liked to see the size of that oyster!

American Oystercatcher (Conserve Wildlife Foundation photo)

Better yet, to see an Oystercatcher pick it up THAT OYSTER, like this one. All kidding aside, can you image a pearl large enough to be a whole gate? That is amazing and only God, the Creator could do that.

We have already produced a few articles about Pearls:

Avian And Attributes – Pearl

Birds in Hymns – He The Pearly Gates Will Open

Freshwater clam with cultivated pearls ©WikiC

Freshwater clam with cultivated pearls ©WikiC

Pearled Treerunner (Margarornis squamiger) ©WikiC

“Heaven has gates; there is a free admission to all that are sanctified; they shall not find themselves shut out. These gates were all of pearls. Christ is the Pearl of great price, and he is our Way to God. The street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. The saints in heaven tread gold under foot. The saints are there at rest, yet it is not a state of sleep and idleness; they have communion, not only with God, but with one another. All these glories but faintly represent heaven.” [Matthew Henry Concise Commentary]

Pearly-bellied Seedeater (Sporophila pileata) by Dario Sanches

The Parable of the Pearl of Great Value
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:  Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. (Matthew 13:45,46 KJV)

None of the birds have Pearl as it’s last name, but here are birds that have Pearl at the beginning of their names:

Pearl Kite (Gampsonyx swainsonii)
Pearl-bellied White-eye (Zosterops grayi)
Pearl-breasted Swallow (Hirundo dimidiata)
Pearled Treerunner (Margarornis squamiger)
Pearl-spotted Owlet (Glaucidium perlatum)
Pearly Antshrike (Megastictus margaritatus)
Pearly Parakeet (Pyrrhura lepida)
Pearly-bellied Seedeater (Sporophila pileata)
Pearly-breasted Conebill (Conirostrum margaritae)
Pearly-breasted Cuckoo (Coccyzus euleri)
Pearly-eyed Thrasher (Margarops fuscatus)
Pearly-vented Tody-Tyrant (Hemitriccus margaritaceiventer)

These birds were included because they like to catch oysters as their name implies:

Oystercatcher, African
Oystercatcher, American
Oystercatcher, Black
Oystercatcher, Blackish
Oystercatcher, Canary Islands
Oystercatcher, Chatham
Oystercatcher, Eurasian
Oystercatcher, Magellanic
Oystercatcher, Pied
Oystercatcher, Sooty
Oystercatcher, South Island
Oystercatcher, Variable

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Wages or a Gift

Avian And Attributes – Pearl

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Pearl Kite (Gampsonyx swainsonii) by Robert Scanlon

Pearl Kite (Gampsonyx swainsonii) by Robert Scanlon

“And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.” (Revelation 21:21-22 KJV)

Avian and Attributes – Pearl

PEARL, n. perl.
1. A white, hard, smooth, shining body, usually roundish, found in a testaceous fish of the oyster kind. The pearl-shell is called matrix perlarum, mother of pearl, and the pearl is found only in the softer part of the animal. It is found in the Persian seas and in many parts of the ocean which washes the shores of Arabia and the continent and isles of Asia, and is taken by divers. Pearls are of different sizes and colors; the larger ones approach to the figure of a pear; some have been found more than an inch in length. They are valued according to their size, their roundness, and their luster or purity, which appears in a silvery brightness.
2. Poetically, something round and clear, as a drop of water or dew.
3. A white speck of film growing on the eye.
PEARL,v.t. perl. To set or adorn with pearls.
PEARL, v.i. perl. To resemble pearls.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.” (Matthew 13:45-46 KJV)

Pearl Kite (Gampsonyx swainsonii) by Ian

Pearl Kite

The Pearl Kite (Gampsonyx swainsonii) is a very small raptor found in open savanna habitat adjacent to deciduous woodland. It is the only member of the genus Gampsonyx. The scientific name commemorates the English naturalist William Swainson.

The type specimen was collected from Brazil by English naturalist William Swainson, and described by Nicholas Aylward Vigors in 1825.  Vigors noted the similarity to both hawks and falcons, but placed Gampsonyx within the “Accipitrine subfamily” because it lacks the notched beak of the falcons. He also noted its striking resemblance to the coloration of the falconets.

Later, the pearl kite was classified with the falcons. For example, Peters placed it with the forest falcons in subfamily Polyhieracinae. In the mid-20th century it was found to be related to Elanus based on morphology and its molt schedule.

This tiny kite breeds from Panama, Colombia and Venezuela south to Bolivia and northern Argentina, with an isolated sedentary population in Nicaragua. It is expanding its range and was proved to breed on Trinidad in 1970. It was first reported in Costa Rica in the mid-1990s, and now is fairly common along Pacific slope, to 1000m.

Pearl Kite (Gampsonyx swainsonii) ©Flickr Fernando Flores

The pearl kite is 20.3–23 cm (8.0–9.1 in) in length and weighs 80–95 g (2.8–3.4 oz). It is the smallest raptor in the Americas and one of the two smallest accipitrids in the world (besides the little sparrowhawk). The tiny hawk, another neotropical species, attains a slightly higher weight than the pearl kite. The adult has a black crown, upperparts, wing and tail, a rufous edged white collar, yellow forehead and cheeks, mainly white underparts, and yellow legs. Immature birds are similar to the adults but have white and chestnut tips to the back and wing feathers, a buff collar and some buff on the white underparts. In flight this species looks mainly black above and white below. The northern form G. s. leonae differs from the nominate G. s. swainsonii in that it has rufous flanks.

The nest is a deep cup of sticks built high in a tree. The clutch is 2-4 brown-marked white eggs, incubated mainly by the female for 34–35 days to hatching, with a further 5 weeks to fledging. There may be two broods in a season.

The pearl kite feeds mainly on lizards, especially Anolis, but also takes small birds and insects; it usually sits on a high open perch from which it swoops on its prey. The call is a high musical pip-pip-pip-pip or kitty-kitty-kitty.

More Avian and Attributes

Birds whose first name starts with “P”

What will you do with Jesus?

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[Definitions from Webster’s Dictionary of American English (1828), unless noted. Bird info from Wikipedia plus.]