Birds of the Bible – Who Colored These Originally?

Blue Jay Photo Chopped in Rainbow Colors - From Pinterest by Richard SequinWho Colored These Originally?

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1 KJV)

My Bible tells me in Genesis chapter 1 that God created everything, including all our avian wonders.

Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) at Bok Tower By Dan'sPix

Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) at Bok Tower By Dan’sPix

In fact, we are told specifically that on the fifth day of creation, God created the Birds:

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.” So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” So the evening and the morning were the fifth day. (Genesis 1:20-23 NKJV)

When the birds were brought forth, judging from today, that they were beautifully arrayed. We can look around at the over 10,000 species today, in spite of being corrupted by the curse (Genesis 3), and see that they are magnificently arrayed in beautiful, fantastic colors and hues.

 

Nicobar Pigeon - False

Nicobar Pigeon – Falsely Colored

Nicobar Pigeon at Lower Park Zoo by Dan

Nicobar Pigeon at Lower Park Zoo by Dan

Then again in John 1:1-3 we see that the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the one who made them.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:1-3 KJV)

All of that was stated to establish who the birds were created by. Now for the point of this article.

I belong to Pinterest which is a visual discovery tool that you can use to find ideas for all your projects and interests. You can find all kinds of photos and of course, many bird photos.

Now, the irritation, for me, is that lately many photos of birds have been “photo-shopped” or someone has used other editing software programs to change their colors. No harm intended, but the colors they are adding to the birds, messes up the beauty of their Creator’s original design and color for them.

False - A Rare Red Owl - Snopes_com

False – A Rare Red Owl – Snopes_com

Some people, who are not familiar with what the birds actually look like, may think that is the way they look in the wild. One such case fooled people into believing that a rare Red Owl actually exist. When the asked “Snopes” they found out the truth.

Two more examples:

False - Curl-crested Aricari from Pinterest by Virainova

False – Curl-crested Aricari from Pinterest by Virainova

False - Flicker from Pinterest by Spykee

False – Flicker from Pinterest by Spykee

Now for the real birds in nature. Also, do you realize how easy they would be for birds of prey to catch these? They would stand out boldly in the crowd and would be the first captured. Only a Wise Creator, would provide for the safety of the birds by their proper coloration.

Curl-crested Aracari (Pteroglossus beauharnaesii) ©WikiC

Curl-crested Aracari (Pteroglossus beauharnaesii) ©WikiC

Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) red-shafted F-left M-right ©WikiC

Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) red-shafted F-left M-right ©WikiC

I know all the birds of the mountains, And the wild beasts of the field are Mine. (Psalms 50:11 NKJV)

Again, I am not condemning those who color their birds in photos, as long as they don’t try to “pass them off” as the “real” bird.

God’s Wisdom, Majesty, and Knowledge cannot be improved upon.

I am the LORD, and there is no other; There is no God besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known Me, That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting That there is none besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other; I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these things.’ (Isaiah 45:5-7 NKJV)

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Birds of the Bible

More False Colored Birds

Who Paints The Leaves?
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4 thoughts on “Birds of the Bible – Who Colored These Originally?

  1. That rainbow-painted jay at the top was a real head-scratcher … until I read the rest of your blog-post, about how God used camouflage-like hues for the real birds, for their own safety. However, I also realize that our human eyes see only a limited spectrum of colors, excluding infrared and ultraviolet wavelengths — so how would bird colors be interpreted, by our eyes, if we could see into the infrared and/or ultraviolet wavelengths (or if we could better see near ultraviolet and/or near infrared wavelengths better)? Would European starlings be seen as dominated by elegant rainbow highlights? Or would black ravens be brilliantly colorful, with multi-hued iridescence that overpowers the black our eyes currently see? Since hummingbirds see the “near-ultraviolet” range of light, their view of (what looks to us as) a solid yellow flower may be different — it might have a bluish-violet in the center, as if providing an easy-to-see bull’s-eye to guide them to the nectar! [T. H. Goldsmith, “Hummingbirds See Near Ultraviolet Light”, SCIENCE, 207(4432):786-788 (15 Feb. 1980).] As a boy I remember the sensation, in my neighborhood, that accompanied the transition from black-and-white television sets to those with “living color” — maybe our current vision of bird plumages will likewise transition into perceiving more vivid and different colors, when we get our resurrection bodies? Just wondering.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Thanks, Dr. Jim. I am sure our “cursed” eyes do not see correctly. “He does great things past finding out, Yes, wonders without number.” (Job 9:10 NKJV)
      PS. I found an error and corrected it. That red-tailed hawk was correct. Now I have a Nicobar in its place.

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