Learning from our Birds – The Leap of Faith – Re-post

My Christian friends I have met through blogging, Aussiebirder, just put out a very interesting and applicable application for faith. Please check out this blog:

The most interesting observation as a scientist that I have made over my years of birding and photographing birds is that of capturing what is termed the leap of faith. This phenomena is usually only observed in small passerines (tree perching birds) and not so much in larger species where much more effort is required to become airborne. The above photo was my first observation, taken of a Lord Howe Island Golden Whistler male leaping off a branch, into the air, quite confidently, with wings closed. My camera had caught something my limited human eye had not.

Don’t Feed the Birds or They’ll Evolve – Re-post from AIG

Eurasian Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) Male and Female ©WikiC

Don’t Feed the Birds or They’ll Evolve – Re-post from Answers In Genesis

by Avery Foley on November 13, 2017

Each year thousands of people fill bird feeders with seeds, corn, and nuts to encourage feathery friends to make a stop in their backyard. Bird feeding is especially popular in the United Kingdom where Britons spend nearly double that of other Europeans on bird feeders and birdseed, and half of homes with a backyard boast bird feeders. According to researchers, this seedy proffering is driving the rapid evolution of bird species.

Bird Feeders and Beak Size
This new research, part of a long-term study conducted by the University of Oxford’s Department of Zoology, focused on several populations of great tits (Parus major), a small bird species. One population was found in Wytham Woods, in the UK, the others in Oosterhout and Veluwe, in the Netherlands….

The Same Old Story

Of course, this isn’t the first time bird beaks have been used as examples of evolution. The so-called “Darwin’s finches” have famously been used to support the idea of molecules-to-man evolution….

…. Continue Reading There are some very nice photos in the article.

American Goldfinch at Feeder by Lee

The evolutionist just cannot figure it out that God is their Creator and the bird’s also. Enjoy reading about the latest reason not to feed the birds. As for me, my feeders are still out for the avian wonders of the Lord to enjoy eating from.

“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” (Colossians 1:16-17 KJV)

Why Kangaroo Rats Don’t Get Dehydrated in the Desert

An interesting article by Dr. Jim, JJSJ. I am reposting it here. The Lord’s amazing Providential Design is beyond our human comprehension of His Love and Care for all critters.

rockdoveblog

Behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. (Jeremiah 50:12b)

DESERT SCRUBLAND near EL PASO, TX photo credit: Pinterest

Kangaroo rats thrive in America’s hot, dry deserts — why don’t they suffer from being dehydrated?  How do they get enough water to survive, since they don’t need to drink water like almost all other mammals?   In short, God has designed and constructed kangaroo rats so that they get their water from their food, especially drought-resistant seeds that abound in the desert.  As they digest such xeric foods, the rats produce (within themselves) all the water that they need, metabolically (i.e., from the normal digestion process), and they retain most of that water by releasing very little of it in their urine (as noted below).

In sum, kangaroo rats are made to get their water form their food and to conserve it…

View original post 1,055 more words

CHICKADEE-DEE-DEE DANGER – Repost

Black-capped Chickadee on snowy conifer

Black-capped Chickadee on snowy conifer

CHICKADEE-DEE-DEE DANGER

“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.” (Matthew 8:20)

Millions of North Americans are familiar with the call of the Black-Capped chickadee: “Chicka-dee”. However, most bird-watchers know that the little chickadee communicates danger with its “chickadee-dee-dee” call. Bird-watchers also know that chickens use different warnings for dangers from the air or from the ground.

Scientists decided to see if chickadees used specialized calls for different dangers. In their first experiments they used a stuffed hawk to see what the chickadees in an outdoor aviary would do. However, they were only fooled once, and after that researchers had to use live hawks. After studying over 5,000 responses, a pattern emerged. Small, agile raptors like hawks are more dangerous to chickadees than, say, a large, horned owl, which the chickadees can easily evade. When confronted by a smaller raptor, the birds’ “chicka” call added up to four “dee”s in rapid succession, instead of two more leisurely “dee”s. Even more “dee”s might be added if the chickadees evaluated the danger as greater. Most frightening to the little birds was a pygmy owl that rated 23 “dee”s.

God cares for all His creatures and, knowing that predation would enter the creation with man’s sin, provided them with ways to warn each other. He also gave man His Word to warn us how to avoid sin and how to escape from it through Jesus Christ, should we become entrapped.

Prayer:
I thank You, Lord, for Your protection from all the dangers we face, especially the danger of our sin. Amen.

Notes:
Science News, 6/25/05, pp. 403-404, S. Milius, “Dee for Danger.” See also: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/black-capped_chickadee/sounds

Creation Moments ©2016 – Used with permission

Mountain Chickadee (Poecile gambeli) ©WikiC

Mountain Chickadee (Poecile gambeli) ©WikiC

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More articles about these Avian Wonders:

Tiny Yet Tough: Chickadees Hunker Down for Winter

Black-capped Chickadees Fed by Hand

Sunday Inspiration – Tits, Chickadees and Penduline Tits

Birds Vol 1 #5 – The Black-capped Chickadee

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Ancient Birds Flew Over Dinosaur’ Heads ~ Re-post

ANCIENT BIRDS FLEW OVER DINOSAURS’ HEADS

“And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.” Genesis 1:21

As the fierce T-Rex approaches its prey, the dinosaur is suddenly hit from above with something white that spatters on its upturned head. Yes, it’s the same kind of bird droppings that you’ll find all over your car when you park under the branches of a tree.

Ancient Birds Flew Over Dinosaurs' Heads

Ancient Birds Flew Over Dinosaurs’ Heads

What’s that again? Evolutionists have been telling us that modern-day birds evolved from dinosaurs. The two kinds of animals weren’t around at the same time, they say. But now, a report tells us that one “ancient bird’s intricate arrangement of the muscles and ligaments controlled the main feathers of its wings, supporting the notion that at least some of the most ancient birds performed aerodynamic feats in a fashion similar to those of many living birds.”

Interesting Things from Smiley CentralDr. Luis M. Chiappe, the investigation’s senior scientist, said, “The anatomical match between the muscle network preserved in the fossil and those that characterize the wings of living birds strongly indicates that some of the earliest birds were capable of aerodynamic prowess like many present-day birds.”

Of course, the research team didn’t want people to end up thinking that birds haven’t evolved over the past 125 million years, so they mentioned that the bones of the fossilized bird is “skeletally quite different from their modern counterparts.” In addition, the press release was accompanied with an artist’s rendition of the bird. To preserve the evolutionary story, the drawing shows a bird with an open beak filled with sharp teeth.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, birds and dinosaurs were created just one day apart so they lived at the same time, just as You tell us in the Bible. Thank You for the scientific evidence that is now confirming this to be true. Amen.

Notes:
“Tiny ancient fossil from Spain shows birds flew over the heads of dinosaurs,” ScienceDaily, 10/6/15, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. Guillermo Navalón, Jesús Marugán-Lobón, Luis M. Chiappe, José Luis Sanz, Ángela D. Buscalioni. “Soft-tissue and dermal arrangement in the wing of an Early Cretaceous bird: Implications for the evolution of avian flight.” Scientific Reports, 2015; 5: 14864 DOI: 10.1038/srep14864. Illustration: Courtesy of Stephanie Abramowicz.
©Creation Moments 2016


Lee’s Addition:

Komodo Dragon by Dan

Komodo Dragon by Dan

The beast of the field shall honour me, the dragons and the owls: because I give waters in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, my chosen. (Isaiah 43:20 KJV)

And thorns shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls. (Isaiah 34:13 KJV) (bolding mine in the verses)

Those verses both have dragons (many creationist also call them dinosaurs) and owls mentioned together in the same verse. Interesting! If the scientist involved weren’t so steeped in their belief of evolution, they might realize how close to the truth they really are.

Interesting Things

Creation Moments

Who Paints The Leaves?

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Strawberry (Red-faced) Mousebird – Urocolius Indicus

Red-faced Mousebird (Urocolius indicus) ©Our Rumbling Ocean

Red-faced Mousebird (Urocolius indicus) ©Our Rumbling Ocean

Red-faced Mousebird

Endemic to Africa, about the size of a normal sparrow, crested head and beautiful cinnamon colored breast and strawberry red mask and bill. They are especially beautiful in the early morning sun. Their general body color is blue-grey or slate-ish.

With its long tail, about the same length as the body, they look like mice when they climb around in trees, therefore the name. Their outside toes are reversed to allow them to do just that, moving forward and backward as they climb around in the trees. They are more nervous of people than especially the Speckled Mousebird, which we have done before….. (To see the rest of the article – click here)


Lee’s Addition:

The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: … (Nahum 2:3a KJV)

Strawberry (Red-faced) Mousebird – Urocolius Indicus is re-blogged and was written on one of the blogs I follow, Our Rumbling Ocean. It is produced in South Africa.

Anyway, I wanted to share these beautiful Mousebirds with you.

Mousebirds are members of the Mousebirds – Coliidae Family and consist of only six species. And, no, the plural of Mousebird is not “Micebirds.”

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Our Rumbling Ocean

Mousebirds – Coliidae Family

Birds of the World

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Picture Story – Coppersmith Barbet (Observations) – Re-post

Coppersmith Barbet (Megalaima haemacephala) ©One Happy Birder

Coppersmith Barbet (Megalaima haemacephala) ©One Happy Birder

According to studies, January to June is usually the breeding season of Coppersmith Barbets found in the Indian Subcontinent. I had seen a courtship display of this species last year where the female waited patiently for the male, the male kept returning to the female with food in its beak, the male used to puff himself up, start flapping its wings and then feed the female displaying his affection to her, and then the eventually they would mate.

Recently, I observed two Coppersmith Barbets indulge in an activity which looked…. Picture Story- Coppersmith Barbet (Observations).


Lee’s Addition:

Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. (Colossians 4:6 KJV)

The article goes on to describe this behavior as “a term ‘allobilling’ trying to find out what this behavior meant. From what i read, ‘allobilling’ is mutual mouthing between two birds.”

This mouthing is what caught my interest as a Christian. What kind of “mouthing” are we doing?

A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it! (Proverbs 15:23 KJV)

Coppersmith Barbets are members of the Megalaimidae – Asian Barbets Family.

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United States Songbirds On Stamps – Re-post from Dear Kitty

Songbirds_Block_0

The U.S. Postal Service celebrates ten melodic voices with the Songbirds stamps: the western meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta), the mountain bluebird (Sialia currucoides), the western tanager (Piranga ludoviciana), the painted bunting (Passerina ciris), the Baltimore oriole (Icterus galbula), the evening grosbeak (Coccothraustes vespertinus), the scarlet tanager (Piranga olivacea), the rose-breasted grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus), the American goldfinch (Spinus tristis), and the white-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis).

Each colorful bird is shown perching on a fence post or branch … (The rest of the article)
This is from Dear Kitty. Some Blog

See United States songbirds on stamps.

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“A Cardinal Sits With Me” ~ by Sandra Conner

“A Cardinal Sits With Me” by Sandra Conner (Re-post)

This is a delightful poem by Sandra.

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A Cardinal Sits With Me

CARDINAL - HOLLINGSWORTH - BFPA Cardinal sits with me at end of day.
It is a bleak, unhappy time,
And I have lost my way.

He seems content to stay a while and rest,
And my front porch is cool with shade,
Sun moving to the west.

To read the rest of A Cardinal Sits With Me.

Birds In Christmas Hymns – Welcome To Christmas (Re-post)

Doves in Israel

Doves in Israel ©©

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. (Luke 2:10 KJV)

Words: Bird­ie Bell (1877-?), 1886.
Music: Box­eld­er, Asa Hull, 1886

Birds in Christmas Hymns

Birds in Christmas Hymns

Welcome To Christmas

Beautiful anthem the first Christmas wakened
Ages ago over Bethlehem’s plain;
Greeting the shepherds with magical accents,
Bringing deliverance from sin’s deep stain.

Refrain

Ring out a welcome to Christmas’ fair morning,
Herald its coming, each fresh, youthful voice;
Ring out a welcome, a bright cheery welcome!
Christmas is dawning, let earth rejoice!

Peerless the singers, and wondrous their singing;
Glorious theme: Lo, a Savior is born!
Royal Deliverer, His praises are ringing,
Hailing with joy the auspicious morn!

Refrain

Ring out a welcome to Christmas’ fair morning,
Herald its coming, each fresh, youthful voice;
Ring out a welcome, a bright cheery welcome!
Christmas is dawning, let earth rejoice!

Shall we not join in the loud, swelling chorus
Sending the message from mountain to sea;
Let fairest Peace spread her dove-like wings o’er us,
Making our hearts His fit home to be.

Refrain

Ring out a welcome to Christmas’ fair morning,
Herald its coming, each fresh, youthful voice;
Ring out a welcome, a bright cheery welcome!
Christmas is dawning, let earth rejoice!

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Under His Wings - (Dove - photographer unknown)

Under His Wings – (Dove – photographer unknown)

More Birds in Hymns

See ~ Wordless Birds

Most information from The Cyber HymnalWelcome To Christmas

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