The Spoonbill family has a unique or uncommon way of feeding. They swing their beak back and forth in the water to find food. The inside of the “spoon” is very sensitive. When they feel a “goodie,” their beak snaps shut. They then swallow their food.
I have been trying to capture this action on video for some time, and finally, watched this African Spoonbill catch his food. This was taken at Zoo Tampa (Lowry Park Zoo) in their aviary.
“For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?” (1 Corinthians 4:7 NKJV)
Just as the Spoonbills eat differently from other species of birds, it was the Creator that made them this way. You were created different than anyone else. Enjoy your uniqueness, because God made you the way your are. You were given different talents and abilities than someone else. What are you going to do with what the Lord has given?
African Spoonbill Zoo Tampa by Lee
The Spoonbills are using their uniqueness very well!
“So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. …” (Genesis 2:20a NKJV)
While posting Emma Foster’s latest tale about birds, the Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush (Garrulax pectoralis) was used. I picked this bird because of the “necklaced” part of its name. Where actually do they live and what can we find out about them?
I have always enjoyed the Laughingthrush every since we saw the ones in Zoo Miami’s Aviary.
Red-tailed Laughingthrush by Dan at Wings of Asia Zoo Miami
The Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush doesn’t have much written about it in Wikipedia. Here is their information:
The Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush (Pterorhinus pectoralis) is a species of passerine bird in the family Leiothrichidae. It is found in Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand and Vietnam. It is introduced to the United States. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical moist montane forest.
This species was formerly placed in the genus Garrulax but following the publication of a comprehensive molecular phylogenetic study in 2018, it was moved to the resurrected genus Pterorhinus.
Greater necklaced laughingthrush, Garrulax pectoralis (formerly; Ianthocincla pectoralis ), also known as the necklaced laughingthrush or the black-gorgeted laughingthrush, photographed at Hong Kong, China.
An adult Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush, (Garrulax pectoralis). This species can be identified by the silvery streaked ear coverts encircled by a black band. This distinguishes it from the similarly-appearing Lesser Necklaced Laughingthrush (but that species is pale and has none of the ear covert markings).
The Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush is a member of a large family of passerines known as the the Old World babblers (Timaliidae). This family is quite diverse in size and coloration, but are characterised by soft fluffy plumage — a really lame way to classify them, in my opinion, since there’s a LOT of passerines with “soft fluffy plumage” that are not included in this taxonomic family. Ho-hum.
One weird fact: the American wrentit was recently placed into the Old World babblers but that enigmatic species probably doesn’t belong there.
Another weird fact: there are two groups of birds in the world that are known as “babblers”: the timaliids are one and the other is the (unrelated) Australasian babblers of the family, Pomatostomidae. The pomatostomids are now sometimes known as the pseudo-babblers, because they deceived naturalists, ornithologists and birders for so bloody long.
Video of the Greater Necklaced Laughingthrushes of Bann Song Nok, south of Bangkok. By Wazooland
Okay, so what about these Lesser Necklaced? They look so similar that you really need to look hard to distinguish them. Look real close, and then notice the color of the eyes. Which is which? Lesser has a yellow eye and the greater has a black eye. Oh, and the “necklace” is supposed to be narrower. It is hard to tell that. The “ear covert markings” help, but those eyes are the clincher!
“They came, both men and women, as many as had a willing heart, and brought earrings and nose rings, rings and necklaces, all jewelry of gold, that is, every man who made an offering of gold to the LORD.” (Exodus 35:22 NKJV)
Rufous-tailed Hummingbird (Amazilia tzacatl) by Judd Patterson
“Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.” (Isaiah 60:1 KJV)
Yesterday’s article, Precious Stones and Birds – Colors, show how light can be changed into different colors as it passes through a prism. Also, that the Lord God, the Creator of all we see here on earth is the source of light. Today you will see how light reflecting on bird’s feathers, especially Hummingbirds, helps demonstrate that fact.
Here are some videos and photos of Hummingbirds showing how the light reflects on these birds.
“For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6 KJV)
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Here is a Hummingbird being turned so that the light shines on his colors. Watch how the blue appears.
Light reflects off the feathers of Hummingbirds. Here are some photos:
Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus) by Michael Woodruff
Scintillant Hummingbird (Selasphorus scintilla) by Judd Patterson
The Ruby-topaz Hummingbird is a nice example of how the light shinning on the hummer.
“Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:13-16 KJV)
“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)
As Spring comes, the birds start their travel back to their normal habitat. It is amazing how far birds travel in their annual migrations. In Why Get In The Ark When You Can Fly?, the Willow Warbler migrates up to 12,000 km each year. [7,456.45 miles].
The article, Awaiting A Robin – Dorothy Malcolm, Mrs. Malcolm is waiting for the Robins to stop for a rest in her yard. They will be migrating [traveling] from areas in the south, and going back to their northern homes. The Family Circus today shows the birds resting and eating before they take off again.
I trust the last two posts have been informative and a blessing. Eleventh Anniversary and Eleventh Anniversary II. It still amazes me how the Lord would choose to use us in even a small way. If you have followed Lee’s Birdwatching Adventures very long, you know I believe that all these beautiful birds are a gift from the Lord’s Creative hand. They did not evolve from some blob or a dinosaur. The Bible has given us too many proofs of this, unless you have chosen not to believe His Word. I have no problem believing the following verses:
“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. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.” (Genesis 1:21-23 KJV)
Watching Birds at MacDill AFB Shore
Nor believing that Adam named those first critters, including the birds:
“Out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. And whatever Adam called each living creature, that was its name. So Adam gave names to all cattle, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.” (Genesis 2:19-20 NKJV)
Of course today, the I.O.C. gets together with many ornithologist from around the world to name birds. Adam didn’t need a committee at that time. He was the only human present. Eve came after the naming. [They, IOC, have increased their numbers by over 400 newly named birds since the Birds of the World section was added.]
Black-capped Foliage-gleaner (Philydor atricapillus) by Dario Sanches
Back to the reviewing of the past eleven years. From the beginning, the Lord’s Word about the birds has been the main part as I tried to find the various birds mentioned in the Bible. From there is has grown in various ways, but always, God’s Words are mentioned. Almost all of our writers, that thankfully add to this blog, believe that these fantastic birds are from God’s Hand.
The Seventh Anniversary in 2015 revealed that there had been 1.3 million visits and there were over 1,100 followers. Wow! By then Golden Eagle, Dr. James J. S. Johnson and Emma Foster were writing articles. Enough to have their own page in the menu [left side].
Must have skipped the 8th and 9th anniversaries, but much was going on. The Birds of the Bible for Kids blog was being re-fired up and most of the articles were move back over to there.
The Tenth anniversary had me Really Kicking Up A Dust Storm, sometime during those years, somehow, this site was hacked. Many of the photos used in post were GONE. The “pipe dream” of having a photo of every bird in the world blew up. This really involved much work to fix all the broken links that caused. Now in the Birds of the World, the list of the birds are there, but with some photos at the end of the page. [This was the only way to fix hundreds of broken links.]
If you have a blog or are thinking about starting one, they are enjoyable, but there can be issues that can “spoil the vines. “Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.” (Song of Solomon 2:15 KJV) Do we throw in the towel, or do we continue? So far, we have continued. Else we wouldn’t be celebrating 11 years of blogging.
The Lord has been very gracious. We have made many friends over the years because of this blog. I feel like I know some of you personally, even though we probably won’t meet until we arrive in heaven. Thanks for all the friendships that have developed over these many years. The Lord truly has been blessing.
Tomorrow, I hope to add at least one more post to this anniversary remembrances.
Magnificent Frigatebird over shore by Patrick AFB by Lee
“The birds of the air, And the fish of the sea That pass through the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, How excellent is Your name in all the earth!” (Psalms 8:8-9 NKJV)
Today while trying to enter Patrick AFB in Florida, we spotted three Magnificent Frigatebirds skimming over the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. Wow!! We very seldom spot these birds. The size of their wingspan is amazing and are a sight to see.
Since this was New Year’s Eve day, we discovered that the A1A entrance was closed. So, we had to turn around and go back to the other gate.
Two Magnificent Frigatebird over shore by Patrick AFB by Lee
“Dan, wait while I get my camera out of the case. Maybe, we can spot them again, because they were heading south originally while we were going north.” Yeah! We spotted the three and also a fourth one. These photos were taken through the front windshield while Dan was driving. So, they are less than perfect. But, it does prove we saw them.
Magnificent Frigatebird over shore by Patrick AFB by Lee
I have a Dr. appointment over here, so we came a day or so early. We birdwatched a Viera Wetlands a bit on the way into the area. Plan on covering more of the wetlands before heading back home.
Now for some better photos of this magnificent Magnificent Frigatebird.
Magnificent Frigatebird by NOAA
While checking for information on these birds, I found several interesting articles you might want to check out. The one talks about how they stay at sea for days and weeks on end. They tested their sleeping ability to sleep while aloft. See: Frigatebirds can sleep while flying.
“The 7-foot wingspan of a magnificent frigatebird is unmistakable. They dwarf other birds as they glide on air currents above coastal Florida. Our state hosts the largest frigatebird species and the only nesting colony in the United States, located in the Dry Tortugas. Their summer breeding season brings the open-ocean species in to the shore where males can show off their distinctive red pouch to potential mates.
Frigatebirds rarely land on the ground due to their short legs and wing shape. Their thin “bent elbow” wings are ideal for soaring hundreds of miles without a single wing flap, but can’t generate enough lift to get the large birds off of the ground. They land and nest in high places, free diving off of them before catching the breeze and flying on.
It’s just as uncommon to find a frigatebird on the water. Their feathers lack oil that keep their seafaring neighbors like pelicans and gulls afloat. Water would quickly soak the frigate’s feathers and make it nearly impossible to escape.” This is from Nature’s Academy’s article.
We have had several articles here over the years about the Frigatebirds:
“The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” (Genesis 9:16 NKJV)
Recently a friend posted a video of beautifully colored Finches. They didn’t tell what they were and others were writing and asking where they were from. So, after posting it to my page, I thought it would be interesting to find out more about the beautiful creations from our Lord.
Here is the link to that video. Animal & Nature page on Facebook. WordPress can’t insert it.
The video below is by LesleytheBirdNerd on YouTube and she explains much about the colorful finches:
“The Gouldian finch (Erythrura gouldiae), also known as the Lady Gouldian finch, Gould’s finch or the rainbow finch, is a colourful passerine bird which is native to Australia.
Both sexes are brightly coloured with black, green, yellow, and red markings. The females tend to be less brightly coloured. One major difference between the sexes is that the male’s chest is purple, while the female’s is a lighter mauve.
Gouldian Finch (Erythrura gouldiae) by Africaddict
Gouldian finches are about 125–140 mm long. Gouldian finches’ heads may be red, black, or yellow. Formerly considered three different kinds of finches, it is now known that these are colour variants that exist in the wild. Selective breeding has also developed mutations (blue, yellow and silver instead of a green back) in both body and breast colour.
Outside the breeding season, Gouldian finches often join mixed flocks consisting of long-tailed finches and masked finches. Flocks can consist of up to 1,000–2,000 individuals. During the breeding season, they are normally found on rough scree slopes where vegetation is sparse. In the dry season, they are much more nomadic and will move to wherever there food and water can be found.” [Wikipedia with editing]
I wonder if the Lord thought that having “little rainbows” [Gouldian Finches] down here, might help us remember his promise? The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
(Genesis 9:16 NKJV)
Birds of the Bible For Kids 