Birds of the Bible – Thrush Songs

February 4, 2016 by Lee

Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) ©USFWS

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)

Discovered a very nice YouTube Channel, and thought you might enjoy watching and listening to three Thrushes. They are from the Turdidae Family. The Channel belongs to Lang Elliott’s Nature Channel. These songs are blessings from their Creator who put songs in their heart for us to enjoy.

Thrushes are plump, soft-plumaged, small to medium-sized birds, inhabiting wooded areas, and often feed on the ground. The smallest thrush may be the forest rock thrush, at 21 g (0.74 oz) and 14.5 cm (5.7 in). However, the shortwings, which have ambiguous alliances with both thrushes and Old World flycatchers, can be even smaller. The lesser shortwing averages 12 cm (4.7 in). The largest thrush is the blue whistling thrush, at 178 g (6.3 oz) and 33 cm (13 in). The great thrush is similar in length, but less heavily built. Most species are grey or brown in colour, often with speckled underparts.

The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him. (Psalms 28:7 NKJV)

They are insectivorous, but most species also eat worms, land snails, and fruit. Many species are permanently resident in warm climates, while others migrate to higher latitudes during summer, often over considerable distances.

I will sing to the LORD, Because He has dealt bountifully with me. (Psalms 13:6 NKJV)

Thrushes build cup-shaped nests, sometimes lining them with mud. They lay two to five speckled eggs, sometimes laying two or more clutches per year. Both parents help in raising the young.

The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him. (Psalms 28:7 NKJV)

The songs of some species, including members of the genera Catharus, Myadestes, Sialia and Turdus, are considered to be among the most beautiful in the avian world. (Wikipedia with editing)

Wordless Birds

Sunday Inspiration – Oxpeckers and Thrushes

December 13, 2015 by Lee

Red-billed Oxpecker (Buphagus erythrorynchus) by Africaddict

Then He answered them, saying, “Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?” (Luke 14:5 NKJV)

This Sunday’s continuation of the Passerines (Songbirds) bring us to two more families, one small with only 2 species of Oxpeckers and the other, the large Thrush family with 167 members.

Yellow-billed Oxpecker with Water Buffalo ©©

The oxpeckers are two species of bird which make up the family Buphagidae. Oxpeckers are endemic to the savanna of Sub-Saharan Africa. Both the English and scientific names arise from their habit of perching on large mammals (both wild and domesticated) such as cattle or rhinoceroses, and eating ticks, botfly larvae, and other parasites.

Oxpeckers feed exclusively on the backs of large mammals. Certain species are seemingly preferred, whereas others, like the Lichtenstein’s hartebeest or Topi are generally avoided. Smaller antelope such as lechwe, duikers and reedbuck are also avoided, the smallest regularly used species is the Impala, probably because of the heavy tick load and social nature of that species. In many parts of their range they now feed on cattle, but avoid camels. They feed on ectoparasites, particularly ticks, as well as insects infecting wounds and the flesh and blood of some wounds as well. (Info from Wikipedia)

Orange-headed Thrush (Geokichla citrina) ©WikiC

Thrushes are medium-sized mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds. The genus, Turdus, is the largest genus of the thrush family, Turdidae.

The Turdus genus has a cosmopolitan distribution, with species in the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. Several species have also colonized some oceanic islands, and two species have been introduced to New Zealand. Some New World species are called robins, the most famous of which is the American robin. Several species are migratory.

American Robin (Turdus migratorius)with youngsters by Raymond Barlow

They are insectivorous, but most species also eat worms, land snails, and fruit. Many species are permanently resident in warm climes, while others migrate to higher latitudes during summer, often over considerable distances.

Thrushes build cup-shaped nests, sometimes lining them with mud. They lay two to five speckled eggs, sometimes laying two or more clutches per year. Both parents help in raising the young.

The songs of some species, including members of the genera Catharus, Myadestes, and Turdus, are considered to be among the most beautiful in the avian world. (Info from Wikipedia)

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“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)

“I Heard The Bells With Peace On Earth” – with Jessie Padgett, Angel Long and the FX Girls

Faith Baptist has just recently started posting our services on YouTube. Here is last Sunday’s Message (Dec 6, 2015) if you would like to watch it. We have a great pastor and church. He is doing a Christmas theme during December.

Sunday Inspirations

Buphagidae – Oxpeckers Family

Turdidae – Thrushes Family

PASSERIFORMES Order

Birds of the Bible – Thrushes

Birds of the Bible – Bluebirds

September 22, 2012 by Lee

Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) by J Fenton

Cranes know when it’s time to move south for winter. And robins, warblers, and bluebirds know when it’s time to come back again. But my people? My people know nothing, not the first thing of GOD and his rule. (Jeremiah 8:7 MSG)

As far as I know, the only Version of the Bible (English) that used the word “bluebirds is the Message. It is not a version I use, but that verse makes for chance to write about the Bluebirds. In many of the other versions, “Thrush” is used. Bluebirds are in the Turdidae – Thrushes Family. There are three species; the Eastern, Western and Mountain Bluebirds. In a completely different family, the Irenidae – Fairy-bluebirds Family you will find the Asian and Philippine Fairy-bluebirds. These are not “thrushes” per se.

This verse has been written about in Birds of the Bible – Thrush and Thrushes II. It mentions that the birds know more about migration than the people know that much about God and His dominion.

Do the Bluebirds migrate? Only the Eastern Bluebird. Here is their range map. Yellow is summer, blue – winter and green is year round. The summer breeding range extends as far north as the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia, and Montana. The northern Western Bluebirds can migrate to the southern parts of the range; southern birds are often permanent residents. The mountain bluebird is migratory. The Mountain Bluebird range varies from Mexico in the winter to as far north as Alaska, throughout the western U.S. and Canada. Northern birds migrate to the southern parts of the range; southern birds are often permanent residents. Some birds may move to lower elevations in winter.

Eastern_Bluebird-rangemap rangemap Y-Sum B-win G-yr rnd

Eastern Bluebird rangemap Y-Sum B-win G-yr rnd ©WikiC

So, not so sure that was a good choice of birds to use especially since they aren’t even anywhere near the Middle East. Nevertheless they are beautiful birds that the Lord has created for His pleasure and our enjoyment. The majority of their diet is “insects and other invertebrates. The remainder of the bird’s diet is made up of wild fruits. Favored insect foods include grasshoppers, crickets, katydids, and beetles. Other food items include earthworms, spiders, millipedes, centipedes, sow bugs and snails. (Eastern) Bluebirds are very helpful with pest control in the territory surrounding the nest.”

Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides) by Daves BirdingPix

All three of them are cavity dwellers or nest box residents. They are all territorial and “Bluebirds can typically produce between two and four broods during the spring and summer (March through August in the Northeastern United States). Males identify potential nest sites and try to attract prospective female mates to those nesting sites with special behaviors that include singing and flapping wings, and then placing some material in a nesting box or cavity. If the female accepts the male and the nesting site, she alone builds the nest and incubates the eggs.”

“The bluebirds are a group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the genus Sialia of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas. They have blue, or blue and red, plumage. Female birds are less brightly colored than males, although color patterns are similar and there is no noticeable difference in size between sexes.

Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana) juvenile by Quy Tran

Western Bluebirds are sometimes confused with other bluebirds, however they can be distinguished without difficulty. The Western Bluebird has a blue (male) or gray (female) throat, the Eastern Bluebird has an orange throat, and the Mountain Bluebird lacks orange color anywhere on its body.

Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana) ©WikiC

I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. (Psalms 50:11 ESV)

See:

Birds of the Bible

Birds of the Bible – Thrushes

Eastern, Western, Mountian Bluebirds – Wikipedia

Wordless Birds

Birds Vol 1 #5 – The Wood Thrush

May 26, 2012 by Lee

Wood Thrush for Birds Illustrated by Color Photography, 1897

Birds Illustrated by Color Photography – Revisited

Vol 1. May, 1897 No. 5

THE WOOD THRUSH.

“With what a clear
And ravishing sweetness sang the plaintive Thrush;
I love to hear his delicate rich voice,
Chanting through all the gloomy day, when loud
Amid the trees is dropping the big rain,
And gray mists wrap the hill; foraye the sweeter
His song is when the day is sad and dark.”

O many common names has the Wood Thrush that he would seem to be quite well known to every one. Some call him the Bell Thrush, others Bell Bird, others again Wood Robin, and the French Canadians, who love his delicious song, Greve des Bois and Merle Taune. In spite of all this, however, and although a common species throughout the temperate portions of eastern North America, the Wood Thrush can hardly be said to be a well-known bird in the same sense as the Robin, the Catbird, or other more familiar species; “but to every inhabitant of rural districts his song, at least, is known, since it is of such a character that no one with the slightest appreciation of harmony can fail to be impressed by it.”

Some writers maintain that the Wood Thrush has a song of a richer and more melodious tone than that of any other American bird; and that, did it possess continuity, would be incomparable.

Damp woodlands and shaded dells are favorite haunts of this Thrush, but on some occasions he will take up his residence in parks within large cities. He is not a shy bird, yet it is not often that he ventures far from the wild wood of his preference.

The nest is commonly built upon a horizontal branch of a low tree, from six to ten—rarely much more—feet from the ground. The eggs are from three to five in number, of a uniform greenish color; thus, like the nest, resembling those of the Robin, except that they are smaller.

In spite of the fact that his name indicates his preference for the woods, we have seen this Thrush, in parks and gardens, his brown back and spotted breast making him unmistakable as he hops over the grass for a few yards, and pauses to detect the movement of a worm, seizing it vigorously a moment after.

He eats ripening fruits, especially strawberries and gooseberries, but no bird can or does destroy so many snails, and he is much less an enemy than a friend of the gardener. It would be well if our park commissioners would plant an occasional fruit tree—cherry, apple, and the like—in the public parks, protecting them from the ravages of every one except the birds, for whose sole benefit they should be set aside. The trees would also serve a double purpose of ornament and use, and the youth who grow up in the city, and rarely ever see an orchard, would become familiar with the appearance of fruit trees. The birds would annually increase in numbers, as they would not only be attracted to the parks thereby, but they would build their nests and rear their young under far more favorable conditions than now exist. The criticism that birds are too largely destroyed by hunters should be supplemented by the complaint that they are also allowed to perish for want of food, especially in seasons of unusual scarcity or severity. Food should be scattered through the parks at proper times, nesting boxes provided—not a few, but many—and then

The happy mother of every brood
Will twitter notes of gratitude.

THE WOOD THRUSH.

The Bird of Solitude.

Of all the Thrushes this one is probably the most beautiful. I think the picture shows it. Look at his mottled neck and breast. Notice his large bright eye. Those who have studied birds think he is the most intelligent of them all.

He is the largest of the Thrushes and has more color in his plumage. All who have heard him agree that he is one of the sweetest singers among birds.

Unlike the Robin, Catbird, or Brown Thrush, he enjoys being heard and not seen.

His sweetest song may be heard in the cool of the morning or evening. It is then that his rich notes, sounding like a flute, are heard from the deep wood. The weather does not affect his song. Rain or shine, wet or dry, he sings, and sings, and sings.

During the light of day the Wood Thrush likes to stay in the cool shade of the woods.

Along toward evening, after sunset, when other birds are settling themselves for the night, out of the wood you will hear his evening song.

It begins with a strain that sounds like, “Come with me,” and by the time he finishes you are in love with his song.

The Wood Thrush is very quiet in his habits. So different from the noisy, restless Catbird.

The only time that he is noisy is when his young are in danger. Then he is as active as any of them.

A Wood Thrush’s nest is very much like a Robin’s. It is made of leaves, rootlets and fine twigs woven together with an inner wall of mud, and lined with fine rootlets.

The eggs, three to five, are much like the Robin’s.

Compare the picture of the Wood Thrush with that of the Robin or Brown Thrush and see which you think is the prettiest.

Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) by Daves BirdingPix

Lee’s Addition:

Thrushes are a Bird of the Bible, depending on which translation you use. See:

Bible Birds – Thrushes

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)

Since they mentioned the song so much, here is a sample of its song from Xeno-canto – Wood Thrush song by Chris Parrish]

The Wood Thrush has been reported to have one of the most beautiful songs of North American birds. American naturalist Henry David Thoreau wrote:

Whenever a man hears it he is young, and Nature is in her spring; wherever he hears it, it is a new world and a free country, and the gates of Heaven are not shut against him.

While the female is not known to sing, the male has a unique song that has three parts. The first subsong component is often inaudible unless the listener is close, and consists of two to six short, low-pitched notes such as bup, bup, bup. The middle part is a loud phrase often written ee-oh-lay, and the third part is a ventriloquial, trill-like phrase of non-harmonic pairs of notes given rapidly and simultaneously.

The male is able to sing two notes at once, which gives its song an ethereal, flute-like quality. Each individual bird has its own repertoire based on combinations of variations of the three parts. Songs are often repeated in order. The bup, bup, bup phrase is also sometimes used as a call, which is louder and at a greater frequency when the bird is agitated. The Wood Thrush also use a tut, tut to signal agitation. The nocturnal flight call is an emphatic buzzing heeh.

Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) ©WikiC

The Wood Thrush, Hylocichla mustelina, is a North American passerine bird. It is closely related to other thrushes such as the American Robin and is widely distributed across North America, wintering in Central America and southern Mexico. The Wood Thrush is the official bird of the District of Columbia.

The adult Wood Thrush is 19–21 cm (7½-8¼ in) long, and weighs 40-50 g, with a wingspan of 30–40 cm (12–16 in). The longest known lifespan for a Wood Thrush in the wild is 8 years, 11 months. The crown, nape, and upper back are cinnamon-brown, while the back wings, and tail are a slightly duller brown. The breast and belly are white with large dark brown spots on the breast, sides, and flanks. It has white eye rings and pink legs. Other brownish thrushes have finer spotting on the breast. The juvenile looks similar to adults, but has additional spots on the back, neck, and wing coverts. The male and female are similar in size and plumage.

Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) ©WikiC

The Wood Thrush is a member of the Turdidae – Thrush family. There are 185 species, including Rufous Thrushes, Whistling Thrushes, Ground Thrushes, our Bluebirds, Solitaires, Nightingale-Thrushes, Cochoas, Shortwings, and our American Robin.

Birds Illustrated by Color Photograhy Vol 1 May, 1897 No 5 – Cover

Birds Illustrated by Color Photography – Revisited – Introduction

The above article is the first article in the monthly serial that was started in January 1897 “designed to promote Knowledge of Bird-Live.” These include Color Photography, as they call them, today they are drawings. There are at least three Volumes that have been digitized by Project Gutenberg.

To see the whole series of – Birds Illustrated by Color Photography – Revisited

(Information from Wikipedia and other internet sources)

Next Article –The American Catbird

Previous Article –The Night Hawk

ABC’s Of The Gospel

Links:

Wood Thrush – Wikipedia

Wood Thrush – All About Birds

Thrush – Wikipedia

Turdidae – Thrush family

Birds Vol 1 #3 – Little Boy Blue

March 2, 2012 by Lee

Bluebird – Little Boy Blue

Birds Illustrated by Color Photography – Revisited

Vol 1. March, 1897 No. 3

LITTLE BOY BLUE – THE BLUE BIRD

Boys and girls, don’t you think that is a pretty name? I came from the warm south, where I went last winter, to tell you that Springtime is nearly here.

When I sing, the buds and flowers and grass all begin to whisper to one another, “Springtime is coming for we heard the Bluebird say so,” and then they peep out to see the warm sunshine. I perch beside them and tell them of my long journey from the south and how I knew just when to tell them to come out of their warm winter cradles. I am of the same blue color as the violet that shows her pretty face when I sing, “Summer is coming, and Springtime is here.”

I do not like the cities for they are black and noisy and full of those troublesome birds called English Sparrows. I take my pretty mate and out in the beautiful country we find a home. We build a nest of twigs, grass and hair, in a box that the farmer puts up for us near his barn.

Sometimes we build in a hole in some old tree and soon there are tiny eggs in the nest. I sing to my mate and to the good people who own the barn. I heard the farmer say one day, “Isn’t it nice to hear the Bluebird sing? He must be very happy.” And I am, too, for by this time there are four or five little ones in the nest.

Little Bluebirds are like little boys—they are always hungry. We work hard to find enough for them to eat. We feed them nice fat worms and bugs, and when their little wings are strong enough, we teach them how to fly. Soon they are large enough to hunt their own food, and can take care of themselves.

The summer passes, and when we feel the breath of winter we go south again, for we do not like the cold.

THE BLUE BIRD.

I know the song that the Bluebird is singing
Out in the apple tree, where he is swinging.
Brave little fellow! the skies may be dreary,
Nothing cares he while his heart is so cheery.
Hark! how the music leaps out from his throat,
Hark! was there ever so merry a note?

Listen a while, and you’ll hear what he’s saying,
Up in the apple tree swinging and swaying.
“Dear little blossoms down under the snow,
You must be weary of winter, I know;
Hark! while I sing you a message of cheer,
Summer is coming, and springtime is here!”

“Dear little snow-drop! I pray you arise;
Bright yellow crocus! come open your eyes;
Sweet little violets, hid from the cold,
Put on our mantles of purple and gold;
Daffodils! daffodils! say, do you hear,
Summer is coming! and springtime is here!”

Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) by S Slayton

THE BLUE BIRD.

Winged lute that we call a blue bird,
You blend in a silver strain
The sound of the laughing waters,
The patter of spring’s sweet rain,
The voice of the wind, the sunshine,
And fragrance of blossoming things,
Ah! you are a poem of April
That God endowed with wings.E. E. R.

****

IKE a bit of sky this little harbinger of spring appears, as we see him and his mate househunting in early March. Oftentimes he makes his appearance as early as the middle of February, when his attractive note is heard long before he himself is seen. He is one of the last to leave us, and although the month of November is usually chosen by him as the fitting time for departure to a milder clime, his plaintive note is quite commonly heard on pleasant days throughout the winter season, and a few of the braver and hardier ones never entirely desert us. The Robin and the Blue Bird are tenderly associated in the memories of most persons whose childhood was passed on a farm or in the country village. Before the advent of the English Sparrow, the Blue Bird was sure to be the first to occupy and the last to defend the little box prepared for his return, appearing in his blue jacket somewhat in advance of the plainly habited female, who on her arrival quite often found a habitation selected and ready for her acceptance, should he find favor in her sight. And then he becomes a most devoted husband and father, sitting by the nest and warbling with earnest affection his exquisite tune, and occasionally flying away in search of food for his mate and nestlings.

The Blue Bird rears two broods in the season, and, should the weather be mild, even three. His nest contains three eggs.

In the spring and summer when he is happy and gay, his song is extremely soft and agreeable, while it grows very mournful and plaintive as cold weather approaches. He is mild of temper, and a peaceable and harmless neighbor, setting a fine example of amiability to his feathered friends. In the early spring, however, he wages war against robins, wrens, swallows, and other birds whose habitations are of a kind to take his fancy. A celebrated naturalist says: “This bird seems incapable of uttering a harsh note, or of doing a spiteful, ill-tempered thing.”

Nearly everybody has his anecdote to tell of the Blue Bird’s courage, but the author of “Wake Robin” tells his exquisitely thus: “A few years ago I put up a little bird house in the back end of my garden for the accommodation of the wrens, and every season a pair have taken up their abode there. One spring a pair of Blue Birds looked into the tenement, and lingered about several days, leading me to hope that they would conclude to occupy it. But they finally went away. Late in the season the wrens appeared, and after a little coquetting, were regularly installed in their old quarters, and were as happy as only wrens can be. But before their honeymoon was over, the Blue Birds returned. I knew something was wrong before I was up in the morning. Instead of that voluble and gushing song outside the window, I heard the wrens scolding and crying out at a fearful rate, and on going out saw the Blue Birds in possession of the box. The poor wrens were in despair and were forced to look for other quarters.”

THE BLUE BIRD.

“Drifting down the first warm wind
That thrills the earliest days of spring,
The Bluebird seeks our maple groves
And charms them into tasselling.”

“He sings, and his is Nature’s voice—
A gush of melody sincere
From that great fount of harmony
Which thaws and runs when Spring is here.”

“Short is his song, but strangely sweet
To ears aweary of the low
Dull tramps of Winter’s sullen feet,
Sandalled in ice and muffled in snow.”
*****
“Think, every morning, when the sun peeps through
The dim, leaf-latticed windows of the grove,
How jubilant the happy birds renew
Their old, melodious madrigals of love!
And when you think of this, remember, too,
’Tis always morning somewhere, and above
The awakening continents, from shore to shore,
Somewhere the birds are singing evermore.

“Think of your woods and orchards without birds!
Of empty nests that cling to boughs and beams
As in an idiot’s brain remembered words
Hang empty ’mid the cobwebs of his dreams!
Will bleat of flocks or bellowing of herds
Make up for the lost music, when your teams
Drag home the stingy harvest, and no more
The feathered gleaners follow to your door?”
From “The Birds of Killingsworth.”

Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides) by Daves BirdingPix

Lee’s Addition:

And he made the robe of the ephod of woven work, all of blue. (Exodus 39:22 KJV)

Another delightful story from the past. Who doesn’t like Bluebirds?

The bluebirds are a group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the genus Sialia of the thrush family (Turdidae – Thrushes). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas. They have blue, or blue and red, plumage. Female birds are less brightly colored than males, although color patterns are similar and there is no noticeable difference in size between sexes.
Species:

Eastern Bluebird, Sialia sialis
Western Bluebird, Sialia mexicana
Mountain Bluebird, Sialia currucoides

Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana) juvenile by Quy Tran

Bluebirds are territorial, prefer open grassland with scattered trees and are cavity nesters (similar to many species of woodpecker). Bluebirds can typically produce between two and four broods during the spring and summer (March through August in the Northeastern United States). Males identify potential nest sites and try to attract prospective female mates to those nesting sites with special behaviors that include singing and flapping wings, and then placing some material in a nesting box or cavity. If the female accepts the male and the nesting site, she alone builds the nest and incubates the eggs.

Bluebirds are attracted to platform bird feeders, filled with grubs of the darkling beetle, sold by many online bird product wholesalers as mealworms. Bluebirds will also eat raisins soaked in water. In addition, in winter bluebirds use backyard heated birdbaths. Of all the birds a gardener could choose to attract, the bluebird is the quintessential helpful garden bird. Gardeners go to extreme lengths to attract and keep them in the garden for their beneficial properties. Bluebirds are voracious insect consumers, quickly ridding a garden of insect pests.

By the 1970s, bluebird numbers had declined by estimates ranging to 70% due to unsuccessful competition with house sparrows and starlings, both introduced species, for nesting cavities, coupled with a decline in habitat. However, in late 2005 Cornell University’s Laboratory of Ornithology reported bluebird sightings across the southern U.S. as part of its yearly Backyard Bird Count, a strong indication of the bluebird’s return to the region. This upsurge can largely be attributed to a movement of volunteers establishing and maintaining bluebird trails.

While traveling full-time in our RV, one of our volunteer jobs was to clean the Bluebird houses of the “Trail” at the Avon Park Air Force Range in Avon Park, FL. There were 100 houses over a 78 mile distance. They were about 1/2 mile or so apart. Needless to say, it wasn’t done in one day. That year the Bluebirds had produced about 468 Bluebirds in those boxes. We were able to watch the Eastern Bluebirds quite frequently.

There are a few other “Bluebirds” around the world like the Asian Fairy-bluebird, Philippine Fairy-bluebird are in the Irenidae – Fairy-bluebird Family.

Birds Illustrated by Color Photography – Revisited – Introduction

The above article is the first article in the monthly serial for February 1897 “designed to promote Knowledge of Bird-Live.” These include Color Photography, as they call them, today they are drawings. There are at least three Volumes that have been digitized by Project Gutenberg.

To see the whole series of – Birds Illustrated by Color Photography – Revisited

(Information from Wikipedia and other internet sources)

Next Article – The Swallow

Previous Article – The American Red Bird

Sharing The Gospel

Links:

Bluebird – Wikipedia

FAIRY-BLUEBIRDS Irenidae

The Mountain Bluebird – The Zealous Bridegroom.. by ajmithra

Turdidae – Thrushes

Mountain Bluebirds – Vol 2, #6

Birds Vol 1 #2 – The American Robin

February 18, 2012 by Lee

American Robin for Birds Illustrated by Color Photography

Birds Illustrated by Color Photography – Revisited

Vol 1. February, 1897 No. 2

THE AMERICAN ROBIN.

The Bird of the Morning.

Yes, my dear readers, I am the bird of the morning. Very few of you rise early enough to hear my first song. By the time you are awake our little ones have had their breakfast, Mrs. Robin and I have had our morning bath and we are all ready to greet you with our morning song.

I wonder if any of you have seen our nest and can tell the color of the eggs that Mrs. Robin lays. Some time I will let you peep into the nest and see them, but of course you will not touch them.

I wonder, too, if you know any of my cousins—the Mocking bird, the Cat-bird or the Brown Thrush—I think I shall ask them to have their pictures taken soon and talk to you about our happy times.

Did you ever see one of my cousins on the ground? I don’t believe you can tell how I move about. Some of you may say I run, and some of you may say I hop, and others of you may say I do both. Well, I’ll tell you how to find out. Just watch me and see. My little friends up north won’t be able to see me though until next month, as I do not dare leave the warm south until Jack Frost leaves the ground so I can find worms to eat.

I shall be about the first bird to visit you next month and I want you to watch for me. When I do come it will be to stay a long time, for I shall be the last to leave you. Just think, the first to come and last to leave. Don’t you think we ought to be great friends? Let us get better acquainted when next we meet. Your friend,
Robin.

American Robin (Turdus migratorius) Eggs and 1 hatchling ©©SenzEnina

How do the robins build their nest?
Robin Red Breast told me,
First a wisp of yellow hay
In a pretty round they lay;
Then some shreds of downy floss,
Feathers too, and bits of moss,
Woven with a sweet, sweet song,
This way, that way, and across:
That’s what Robin told me.

Where do the robins hide their nest?
Robin Red Breast told me,
Up among the leaves so deep,
Where the sunbeams rarely creep,
Long before the winds are cold,
Long before the leaves are gold
Bright-eyed stars will peep and see
Baby Robins—one, two, three:
That’s what Robin told me.

American Robin (Turdus migratorius) by Raymond Barlow

THE AMERICAN ROBIN.

“Come, sweetest of the feathered throng.”

UR American Robin must not be confounded with the English Robin Redbreast, although both bear the same name. It is the latter bird in whose praise so much has been written in fable and song. The American Robin belongs to the Thrush family; the Mocking bird, Cat-bird and Brown Thrush, or Thrasher, being other familiar children. In this family, bird organization reaches its highest development. This bird is larger than his English cousin the Redbreast and many think has a finer note than any other of the Thrush family.

The Robin courts the society of man, following close upon the plow and the spade and often becoming quite tame and domestic. It feeds for a month or two on strawberries and cherries, but generally on worms and insects picked out of the ground. It destroys the larvae of many insects in the soil and is a positive blessing to man, designed by the Creator for ornament and pleasure, and use in protecting vegetation. John Burroughs, the bird lover, says it is the most native and democratic of our birds.

It is widely diffused over the country, migrating to milder climates in the Winter. We have heard him in the early dawn on Nantucket Island welcoming the coming day, in the valleys of the Great and the little Miami, in the parks of Chicago, and on the plains of Kansas, his song ever cheering and friendly. It is one of the earliest heralds of Spring, coming as early as March or April, and is one of the latest birds to leave us in Autumn. Its song is a welcome prelude to the general concert of Summer.

“When Robin Redbreast sings,
We think on budding Springs.”

The Robin is not one of our most charming songsters, yet its carol is sweet, hearty and melodious. Its principal song is in the morning before sunrise, when it mounts the top of some tall tree, and with its wonderful power of song, announces the coming of day. When educated, it imitates the sounds of various birds, and even sings tunes. It must be amusing to hear it pipe out so solemn a strain as Old Hundred.

American Robin’s Song from xeno.canto by Mike Nelson

It has no remarkable habits. It shows considerable courage and anxiety for its young, and is a pattern of propriety when keeping house and concerned with the care of its offspring. Two broods are often reared out of the same nest. In the Fall these birds become restless and wandering, often congregating in large flocks, when, being quite fat, they are much esteemed as food.

The Robin’s nest is sometimes built in a corner of the porch, but oftener it is saddled on the horizontal limb of an orchard tree. It is so large and poorly concealed that any boy can find it, yet it is seldom molested. The Robin is not a skillful architect. The masonry of its nest is rough and the material coarse, being composed largely of leaves or old grass, cemented with mud. The eggs number four to six and are greenish blue in color.

An observer tells the following story of this domestic favorite:

“For the last three years a Robin has nested on a projecting pillar that supports the front piazza. In the Spring of the first year she built her nest on the top of the pillar—a rude affair—it was probably her first effort. The same season she made her second nest in the forks of an Oak, which took her only a few hours to complete.

“She reared three broods that season; for the third family she returned to the piazza, and repaired the first nest. The following Spring she came again to the piazza, but selected another pillar for the site of her domicile, the construction of which was a decided improvement upon the first. For the next nest she returned to the Oak and raised a second story on the old one of the previous year, but making it much more symmetrical than the one beneath. The present season her first dwelling was as before, erected on a pillar of the piazza—as fine a structure as I ever saw this species build. When this brood was fledged she again repaired to the Oak, and reared a third story on the old domicile, using the moss before mentioned, making a very elaborate affair, and finally finishing up by festooning it with long sprays of moss. This bird and her mate were quite tame. I fed them with whortleberries, which they seemed to relish, and they would come almost to my feet to get them.”

The amount of food which the young robin is capable of absorbing is enormous. A couple of vigorous, half-grown birds have been fed, and in twelve hours devoured ravenously, sixty-eight earth worms, weighing thirty-four pennyweight, or forty-one per cent more than their own weight. A man at this rate should eat about seventy pounds of flesh per day, and drink five or six gallons of water.

The following poem by the good Quaker poet Whittier is sweet because he wrote it, interesting because it recites an old legend which incidentally explains the color of the robin’s breast, and unique because it is one of the few poems about our American bird.

THE ROBIN.

My old Welsh neighbor over the way
Crept slowly out in the sun of spring,
Pushed from her ears the locks of gray,
And listened to hear the robin sing.

Her grandson, playing at marbles, stopped,
And—cruel in sport, as boys will be—
Tossed a stone at the bird, who hopped
From bough to bough in the apple tree.

“Nay!” said the grandmother; “have you not heard,
My poor, bad boy! of the fiery pit,
And how, drop by drop, this merciful bird
Carries the water that quenches it?

“He brings cool dew in his little bill,
And lets it fall on the souls of sin:
You can see the mark on his red breast still
Of fires that scorch as he drops it in.

“My poor Bron rhuddyn! my breast-burned bird,
Singing so sweetly from limb to limb,
Very dear to the heart of Our Lord
Is he who pities the lost like Him.”

“Amen!” I said to the beautiful myth;
“Sing, bird of God, in my heart as well:
Each good thought is a drop wherewith
To cool and lessen the fires of hell.

“Prayers of love like rain-drops fall,
Tears of pity are cooling dew,
And dear to the heart of Our Lord are all
Who suffer like Him in the good they do.”

Lee’s Addition:

Robins have always been special. I suppose it was one of the first birds that I knew by name. Not that I was a birdwatcher back in my youth. Wish I had started back then.

Like the article mentioned, the American Robin is actually in the Turdidae – Thrushes Family of Passerines which has 184 members. There is another family of Robins and they are in the Chats, Old World Flycatchers – Muscicapidae Family which has 297 species. Wikipedia has this to say about these Robins:

European Robin (Erithacus rubecula) by Robert Scanlon

“The European Robin (Erithacus rubecula), most commonly known in Anglophone Europe simply as the Robin, is a small insectivorous passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family (Turdidae), but is now considered to be an Old World flycatcher (Muscicapidae). Around 12.5–14.0 cm (5.0–5.5 in) in length, the male and female are similar in colouration, with an orange breast and face lined with grey, brown upperparts and a whitish belly. It is found across Europe, east to Western Siberia and south to North Africa; it is sedentary in most of its range except the far north.

The term Robin is also applied to some birds in other families with red or orange breasts. These include the American Robin (Turdus migratorius), which is a thrush, and the Australian red robins of the genus Petroica, members of a family whose relationships are unclear.” They are the Petroicidae – Australasian Robins Family with 46 species.

Scarlet Robin (Petroica boodang) by Ian

Hope you enjoy seeing the three different “Robin Families.” I am thankful the the Lord let at least three different continents have their very own “Robin.” He told the birds to multiply and fill up the earth. They seemed to have obeyed, were we that obedient.

Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds and cattle and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. Every animal, every creeping thing, every bird, and whatever creeps on the earth, according to their families, went out of the ark. (Genesis 8:17-19 NKJV)

Birds Illustrated by Color Photograhy Vol 1 February 1897 No 2 – Cover

Birds Illustrated by Color Photography – Revisited – Introduction

To see the whole series of – Birds Illustrated by Color Photography – Revisited

(Information from Wikipedia and other internet sources)

Next Article – The Kingfisher – The Lone Fisherman

Previous Article – King Parrot Or King Lory

ABC’s of the Gospel

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Ads for Desk and Pens – 1897

Birds of the Bible – Thrushes II

March 19, 2011 by Lee

Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) by Daves BirdingPix

Storks, doves, swallows, and thrushes all know when it’s time to fly away for the winter and when to come back. But you, my people, don’t know what I demand. (Jeremiah 8:7 CEV)

I recently added the Birds of the Bible – Thrushes page. It now appears in the Sidebar and in the Birds of the Bible List. While comparing the Scripture on Jeremiah 8:7, I decided that the Thrushes deserved to be a Bird of the Bible on this blog. As you know, all birds are “Birds of the Bible,” because the Lord created them all. Mainly the ones named in particular have been given their own page. Since Jeremiah 8:7 is translated “thrush” in six Bible versions, it now has its own page.

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. (Genesis 1:21 NKJV)

Here is part of the new Birds of the Bible – Thrushes page:

CLASS – AVES, Order – PASSERIFORMES, Family:

Turdidae – Thrushes

Muscicapidae – has Palm & Rock Thrushes

Other Families with Thrushes:

Formicariidae – Antthrushes – Antthrushes

Pachycephalidae – Whistlers and Allies – Shrikethrushes

Psophodidae – Whipbirds, Jewel-babblers, quail-thrushes – Quail-thrushes

Not all versions of the Bible list the Thrush in this verse, but because so many versions do, the Thrush is being added to the Birds of the Bible. The following versions and the verse are listed below:

(CEV) Storks, doves, swallows, and thrushes all know when it’s time to fly away for the winter and when to come back. But you, my people, don’t know what I demand.
(ERV) Even the birds in the sky know the right time to do things. The storks, doves, swifts, and thrushes know when it is time to fly to a new home. But my people don’t know what the LORD wants them to do.
(GNB) Even storks know when it is time to return; doves, swallows, and thrushes know when it is time to migrate. But, my people, you do not know the laws by which I rule you.
(LITV) Also the stork in the heavens knows her seasons, and the turtledove and the swallow and the thrush observe the time of their coming. But My people do not know the judgment of Jehovah.
(NAS77) “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.
(NASB) “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.

Return Of The Robins – by Dorothy (Dot) Belle Malcolm

March 14, 2011 by GuestWriter

American Robin (Turdus migratorius) by S Slayton

Return Of The Robins by Dorothy (Dot) Belle Malcolm – on February 27, 2011

On the way to church I thought I saw them; however, they flew so fast back and forth I wasn’t sure. The next day I was sure! The Robins had returned. Only a few were in my trees. At first I was disappointed, but at least I could hear lots of them in my neighborhood. I sent them many invitations in my thoughts as I worked in the yard, but they did not come.

Robin Eating by Jim Fenton

As I worked, I began to hear very high sweet sounds coming from some medium sized black birds. How thankful I was for their “music.” Then it ceased and I realized why when I saw the shadow of the Cooper’s Hawk come across the yard. He frequents our area almost daily, and I now realize why I have fewer birds come to my feeders. He is a beautiful specimen but my heart does not welcome him.

Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) by Daves BirdingPix

Well I promised last year I would not speak again of the Robin’s bad manners, so this year I shall not fault them for a lack of a good showing. They had a very good reason. I shall remain satisfied they were around and be thankful for that.

By Dorothy Belle Malcolm

See her article from last year – When The Robins Came

Lee’s Addition:

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)

Listen to the – American Robin’s song -from xeno-canto.com

The American Robin (Turdus migratorius) is a member of the Thrush – Turdidae Family. As Dorothy (“Dottie” to me) knows, they only pass through on their migration journey. This time of the year, they are on their way north.

“The American Robin is widely distributed throughout North America, wintering south of Canada from Florida to central Mexico and along the Pacific Coast. The American Robin is active mostly during the day, and on its winter grounds it assembles in large flocks at night to roost in trees in secluded swamps or dense vegetation. The flocks break up during the day when the birds feed on fruits and berries in smaller groups. During the summer, the American Robin defends a breeding territory and is less social. It is the state bird of Connecticut, Michigan, and Wisconsin.” (Wikipedia)
*

Birds of the Bible – The Thrush

August 13, 2010 by Lee

Varied Thrush (Ixoreus naevius) by Daves BirdingPix

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)

The Thrush is only used in one verse and then in only the CEV, (ERV), GNB, LITV, NASB, and the NAS77 versions of the Bible.
The other versions translate the word “עגוּר or ‛âgûr” (H5693), pronounced “aw-goor’, as a swallow. H5693 is only used in 2 verses in the Bible, Jeremiah 8:7 and Isaiah 38:14. In Isaiah, the different versions all translate it as a “swallow.”

At any rate, this gives the opportunity to introduce the Thrush. Jeremiah is referring to the migration of the birds and how they know when to go and when to come back, but God’s people don’t always know what is expected of them.

There are two Thrush families, Turdidae Family (184) – most of them and the Muscicapidae Family (297) has some thrushes in it.

Thrushes are plump, soft-plumaged, small to medium-sized birds, inhabiting wooded areas, and often feed on the ground or eat small fruit. They range in size from the Forest Rock-thrush, at 21 g (0.74 oz) and 14.5 cm (5.7 in), to the Blue Whistling-thrush, at 178 g (6.3 oz) and 33 cm (13 in). Most species are grey or brown in colour, often with speckled underparts.

They are insectivorous, but most species also eat worms, snails, and fruit. Many species are permanently resident in warm climes, while others migrate to higher latitudes during summer, often over considerable distances. Our well know American Robin and Bluebirds are part of the Thrush family and are migratory.

American Robin (Turdus migratorius) in nest by Ray

Thrushes build nest that are cup-shaped and line them with different things including mud. Both parent help in raising the young, which normally number two to five per brood. Many have two broods a year.

According to Wikipedia the Turdus Genus has the “true thrushes” and it has 65 species in that genus. According to Scripture, I would venture to say that they are all in the same “kind” and have just been busy obeying the command given them to when they came off the Ark.

Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth. (Genesis 8:17 NASB)

Some examples of their migration:

Some species show circuitous migratory routes that reflect historical range expansions and are far from optimal in ecological terms. An example is the migration of continental populations of Swainson’s Thrush, which fly far east across North America before turning south via Florida to reach northern South America
The Himalayan Kashmir Flycatcher and Pied Thrush both move as far south as the highlands of Sri Lanka.
The Song Thrush breeds in forests, gardens and parks, and is partially migratory with many birds wintering in southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East;

Wood Thrush (Hylocichla mustelina) by Daves BirdingPix

The Wood Thrush’s breeding range extends from Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia in southern Canada to northern Florida and from the Atlantic coast to the Missouri River and the eastern Great Plains. It migrates to southern Mexico through to Panama in Central America in the winter, mostly in the lowlands along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. It generally arrives on the U.S. Gulf Coast during the first week of April. Fall migration usually begins in mid-August and continues through mid-September. Migration takes place at night,[9] allowing them to find their direction from the stars and orient themselves by detecting the Earth’s magnetic field.
The Grey-cheeked Thrush migrates to northern South America. This species is a rare vagrant to Europe. Its northerly breeding range and long-distance migration make it one of the more regular North American passerine migrants to cross the Atlantic.
The Northern Wheatear makes one of the longest journeys of any small bird, crossing ocean, ice, and desert. It migrates from Sub-Saharan Africa in Spring over a vast area of the northern hemisphere that includes northern and central Asia, Europe, Greenland, Alaska, and parts of Canada. In Autumn all return to Africa, where their ancestors had wintered. Arguably, some of the birds that breed in north Asia could take a shorter route and winter in south Asia; however, their inherited inclination to migrate takes them back to Africa.

The Thrush families are very interesting birds and they definitely migrate. When they were created, their Creator put a destination and a great ability for them to migrate to those places.

For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. (Colossians 1:16-17 NKJV)

Back to our verse in Jeremiah. The last part of the verse says, “But My people do not know The ordinance of the LORD.”

I like what Matthew Henry said about the whole passage in which the verse is found. Jeremiah 8:4-13:
“What brought this ruin? 1. The people would not attend to reason; they would not act in the affairs of their souls with common prudence. Sin is backsliding; it is going back from the way that leads to life, to that which leads to destruction. 2. They would not attend to the warning of conscience. They did not take the first step towards repentance: true repentance begins in serious inquiry as to what we have done, from conviction that we have done amiss. 3. They would not attend to the ways of providence, nor understand the voice of God in them, Jer_8:7. They know not how to improve the seasons of grace, which God affords. Many boast of their religious knowledge, yet, unless taught by the Spirit of God, the instinct of brutes is a more sure guide than their supposed wisdom. 4. They would not attend to the written word. Many enjoy abundance of the means of grace, have Bibles and ministers, but they have them in vain. They will soon be ashamed of their devices. The pretenders to wisdom were the priests and the false prophets. They flattered people in sin, and so flattered them into destruction, silencing their fears and complaints with, All is well. Selfish teachers may promise peace when there is no peace; and thus men encourage each other in committing evil; but in the day of visitation they will have no refuge to flee unto.”

Wordless Birds

See:

Birds of the Bible – Thrushes (Added 3/14/11)

Birds of the Bible

Birds of the Bible – Thrush Songs

Birds of the World – Turdidae Family – Muscicapidae Family

The Mountain Bluebird – The Zealous Bridegroom..

May 30, 2010 by a j mithra

The Mountain Bluebird – The Zealous Bridegroom.. – by a j mithra

Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides) by Daves BirdingPix

The Mountain Bluebird is a common inhabitant of open areas, such as ranchlands, in the Western parts of America. Mountain Bluebirds are a monogamous breed. The males of this specie have been known to assertively guard their mates from other unattached males. When the male mountain bird has to go away to collect food it makes sure that it stays in contact with the female bird by calling out and engaging in various visual displays.

The Mountain Bluebird is known for its strange feeding behavior. In fact their feeding behavior is so unusual that it makes the Mountain Bluebird quite distinguishable from the other species of bluebirds. Mountain bluebirds like to hover low around open fields where they hunt for their food. Upon seeing an insect the hovering birds quickly briefly drops to the ground to snatch their prey and then return to their flight or go to a perch.

Even when seemingly resting on a perch mountain bluebirds are actually usually on the lookout for insects and when they spot one again suddenly briefly drops to the ground to catch the insect before returning to the perch to feed. This strange behavior is called ground sallying. Though other bluebirds hover above ground at times they do not do this as often as mountain bluebirds does.

Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides) by Ian Montgomery

The mountain bluebirds diet is primarily made up of insects although they do eat berries too. Insects that mountain bluebirds like to feed on include beetles, weevils, ants, wasps, bees, cicadas, flies, caterpillars, grasshoppers, katydids, and crickets. Mountain bluebirds do eat berries but not as much as other species of bluebirds. They eat more berries during winter since insects are harder to find. The varieties of berries they most prefer to eat come from mistletoe, juniper and hackberry plants.

Mating season starts with the male Mountain bluebird singing loudly on treetops to attract female mountain bluebirds. The mating song though serves another purpose, which is to mark of his territory and warn other male birds nearby. The male bluebird begins its song at dawn just as the sun rises and continues until a female mountain bluebird is spotted.

Our praises would announce our neighbors of the authority JESUS has over our lives…

It is easy to say, “if God be with us, who can be against us”, but the question is, do you think that our Lord would dwell among our silence?

Our Lord dwells among praises and not silence; which means, our praises in the morning invites the presence of the Lord, so that His goodness and mercy would follows us all through the day..

Did you announce your neighbors about the authority JESUS has over your life? Do we praise Him until we spot HIS presence? Or just praise Him for the sake of it? Remember, God has created us to just praise, praise and praise….

This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise. (Isaiah 43:21)

Once the male bird sees a female mountain bluebird it starts exhibiting various kinds of behaviors as it tries to attract the female bird and entice it to look at the available nesting cavities in the area, so that the female bird can choose one in which to lay eggs.

Some mating behaviors of the male mountain bluebird include flicking its wing(s) open at a moderate pace, poking its head in and out of a nest hole again and again, and perching on the side of a nest showing off with a wing-wave. When a female mountain bluebird is interested it will follow the male bird into the nesting cavities and even enter some of them to inspect those offered. It isn’t until both birds go inside one nesting cavity several times though that they are considered to be paired. They, of course use the nesting cavity that they had entered several times. After choosing the nesting site the female mountain bluebird promptly begins to build the nest….

In the most sensational courting display, our Lord Jesus Christ hung on the cross And poured every single drop of blood, to attract us, His mate…

In spite of this amazing gift of salvation, how many of us really follow Him…

The female Mountain Blue bird follows the male several times, inside one nesting cavity before it builds its nest..

If Eve had been with Adam, she wouldn’t have sinned…

The day she left Adam and went around the garden, she fell into satan’s snare..

Do we, the bride follow Jesus, our eternal bridegroom?

..: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet. (Joel 2:16)

Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides) by Ian Montgomery nest

It is the female mountain bluebird bird that chooses the nesting site and builds the nest. Throughout the entire process the male also keeps himself busy staying close by to guard the female mountain bluebird. They do help sometimes by bringing some nesting material to the female bird but they do not actually participate in the placement of the material on the nest itself. The male mountain bluebird stays attentive during the entire nest building process and stays close by to guard its mate from other unattached males. Male mountain bluebirds are known to be zealous in protecting their mate.

During this time the male also collects food and feeds it to the female bird while spends most of her time just building the nest. This behavior is called mate-feeding.

Like these male birds, Jesus, our Bridegroom is so zealous that He is busy staying close by to guard us and guide us in all that we do for His glory…

Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. (Isaiah9:7)

Like these female birds, we the bride, are given the responsibility of building the nest, which is the kingdom of the Lord…

He feeds those who are hungry and quenches those who are thirsty, this privilege is only for the bride, who work on building the Bridegroom’s kingdom…

No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD. (Isaiah 54:17)

Bluebirds are held in very high esteem. This is shown in the many times it is mentioned in poetry and prose. Bluebirds are often depicted as a symbol of love, happiness and renewed hope. As another sign of peoples high regard for the bluebird the Mountain Bluebird was chosen as the state bird of both Idaho and Nevada…

Jesus holds us in very high esteem that is the reason He bought us by His blood…

God expects us to show the love which He showed on the cross of Calvary..

In fact, He sees us the symbol of love, happiness and hope…

That is why He calls us as His love…

He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. (Song of Solomon 2:4)

Have a blessed day!

Your’s in YESHUA,
a j mithra

Please visit us at: Crosstree

The Mountain Bluebird is part of the Turdidae Family which includes not only the Bluebirds but also Thrushes, Geomalia, Omao, Kamao, Puaiohi, Olomao, Solitaires, Veery, Blackbirds, Cochoa, Fruithunter, Shortwings and Alethes, for a total of 184 members. They are Passerines.

The Fairy-bluebirds are in the Irenidae Family.

Lee's Birdwatching Adventures Plus

Birdwatching from a Christian Perspective

Tag Archives: Turdidae

Birds of the Bible – Thrush Songs

Sunday Inspiration – Oxpeckers and Thrushes

Birds of the Bible – Bluebirds

Birds Vol 1 #5 – The Wood Thrush

Birds Illustrated by Color Photography – Revisited

Vol 1. May, 1897 No. 5

THE WOOD THRUSH.

THE WOOD THRUSH.

Birds Vol 1 #3 – Little Boy Blue

Birds Illustrated by Color Photography – Revisited

Vol 1. March, 1897 No. 3

LITTLE BOY BLUE – THE BLUE BIRD

THE BLUE BIRD.

THE BLUE BIRD.

Birds Vol 1 #2 – The American Robin

Birds Illustrated by Color Photography – Revisited

Vol 1. February, 1897 No. 2

THE AMERICAN ROBIN.

THE AMERICAN ROBIN.

Birds of the Bible – Thrushes II

Return Of The Robins – by Dorothy (Dot) Belle Malcolm

Birds of the Bible – The Thrush

The Mountain Bluebird – The Zealous Bridegroom..

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Birds Illustrated by Color Photography – Revisited

Vol 1. May, 1897 No. 5

THE WOOD THRUSH.

THE WOOD THRUSH.

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Birds Illustrated by Color Photography – Revisited

Vol 1. March, 1897 No. 3

LITTLE BOY BLUE – THE BLUE BIRD

THE BLUE BIRD.

THE BLUE BIRD.

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Birds Illustrated by Color Photography – Revisited

Vol 1. February, 1897 No. 2

THE AMERICAN ROBIN.

THE AMERICAN ROBIN.

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