Thought you might enjoy watching these:
If birds had arms, then they would not be able to fly or do the amazing things that the Creator meant for them to do. We were all given exactly what we need by our Lord Jesus Christ, the Creator of all.
“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)
Creation Moments has articles frequently about birds. I seem to get behind in checking my mail, so they sort of “pile up.” Today’s post is excerpts, with links to some of those posts.
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) – ©WikiC
“The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land;…” Song of Solomon 2:12
“There is a lot more to bird song than meets the ear. Digital recording and computer technology have enabled researchers to study, in detail, various song-birds’ reactions to neighboring birds’ songs.
“In most species, singing is the male’s job. There is much more going on when he sings than simply establishing territory or attracting a mate. Researchers refer to one characteristic of bird song as “song matching.” While a male bird doesn’t like another male in his territory, he is more tolerant of a related male in a neighboring territory than of a complete stranger. A male will challenge a stranger by repeating the stranger’s song……”
Continued at Dueling Bird Songs
Hooded Crow. Warren Photographic
“And God created … every winged fowl after his kind…” Genesis 1:21
“A recent report on the Science Alert website discussed the evolution of two species of crow in Europe. The two species concerned are the carrion crow, which is black, and the grey-hooded crow. These crows are very different in appearance. They both populate continental Europe, with the grey-hoods in the East and the carrion crows in the West. Their boundary appears to be approximately where Germany’s Elbe River is. At this overlap point, it is possible for birds of the two species to interbreed. The hybrid birds are themselves fertile, which, while unusual for hybrids, is by no means unknown…..”
Continued at Are European Crows Evolving?
Fossil-Avimaia Schweitzerae With Unlaid Egg ©WikiC
“And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.” Genesis 1:22
“I like to keep ducks because I love their eggs. Last summer, one of my ducks became ill, with eggs trapped inside her. Despite my best efforts, she died. Scientists believe the same thing may have happened to a specimen of Avimaia. This fossil, dated by evolutionists at 110 million years old, had evidence of an unlaid egg inside it.” ..
“These deep-time ages do not make sense in the light of the creatures’ appearances. For example, the fact that the avimaia fossil has this unlaid egg within it suggests that the process of egg laying has not changed for these birds, which even evolutionists are having to admit must have co-existed with the very type of dinosaurs which supposedly evolved into them……”
Continued at AN OLD DEAD BIRD AND AN EGG
You can find more of these type articles in the Interesting Things and When I Consider
“He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” (Matthew 28:6 NKJV)
Like many of you, we watched our Easter Services via YouTube, or you may have watched by however your church chose to keep your members encouraged through watching/meeting for this Easter. This “Social Distancing,” is keeping us from our normal services, handshakes, and hugs from our friends. I miss my many friends.
Our pastor had a great message for today, and thought I would share it with you. Faith Baptist Church of Winter Haven has a YouTube site with all the services and additions we are not able to attend in person. I am thankful for these and want to share two of them here. This first one is the Easter Service today with our pastor.
This next one is the “Pastor Jerry’s Musings” He is one of our associate pastors. Enjoy!
Oriental Turtle Dove (Streptopelia orientalis) by Nikhil Devasar
The first time, listed in the Gospels, when Jesus, in His Humanity, is near a bird, was at His dedication. According to the Jewish law, the first born son was to be dedicated at the temple. This was to take place 40 days after he was born. This was so that Mary, his earthly mother, to be purified and Jesus could be dedicated. This was not His first visit, as at eight days old he was there.
When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord“), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.” (Luke 2:22-24 NIV)
Bible Gateway’s – MacArthur Study Bible (NKJV) note:
“2:22 her purification. A woman who bore a son was ceremonially unclean for 40 days (twice that if she bore a daughter—Lev. 12:2–5). After that she was to offer a yearling lamb and a dove or pigeon (Lev. 12:6). If poor, she could offer two doves or pigeons (Lev. 12:8). Mary’s offering indicates that she and Joseph were poor (v. 24). to Jerusalem. A journey of about 6 mi. from Bethlehem. to present Him to the Lord. The dedication of the firstborn son was also required by Moses’ law (v. 23, cf. Ex. 13:2, 12–15).
At forty days old, we could assume that Jesus was not really aware of the doves or pigeons that were used for this offering. Assumptions are not always 100% correct. We are not going to delve into that discussion here. Nor will we try to assume whether other birds were near Jesus at the manger. We are just going to use what the Word says.
Common Pigeon -aka Rock(Columba livia) by Daves BirdingPix
The reason the turtledove or pigeons were used, was because of the finances of his mother and Joseph, his step-father.
“2:24 turtledoves. See Leviticus 12:8. Joseph, despite his royal lineage, was only a young carpenter, too poor to bring a lamb for his offering.” (Defender’s Bible)
“The fact that they offered two pigeons instead of a lamb and a pigeon is an indication that Joseph and Mary were not wealthy. Levitical law required a woman, after the birth of a son, to purify herself for 40 days before going to the temple to offer a sacrifice for her purification. The law stated that she was to offer a lamb and a dove, but if she could not afford these, she could offer two pigeons or doves” (Leviticus 12:2–8). (Halley’s Bible Handbook Notes)
As we journey on with Jesus and the Birds, He will be telling about them by way of parables and others means. Stay tuned!
Questions:
For notes and helps, I am using several resources beside God’s Word, the Bible. I use Bible Gateway as a source for many different Bible versions and study helps. Many are free, but a paid option is also available. [That is what I use – $3.99 month)
I also have many different Bibles I own and use, of which my favorite is the Defender’s Bible by Henry Morris. (older version) This can also be used online at Defender’s Bible from I.C.R.
On Lee’s Birdwatching Adventures:
Lady Amherst’s Pheasant (Chrysolophus amherstiae)
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives,” Ecclesiastes 3:11-12 [NKJV]
The Lady Amherst’s Pheasant (Chrysolophus amherstiae) is a bird of the Galliformes Order and the family Phasianidae. The genus name is from Ancient Greek khrusolophos, “with golden crest”. The English name and amherstiae commemorates Sarah Amherst, wife of William Pitt Amherst, Governor General of Bengal, who was responsible for sending the first specimen of the bird to London in 1828.
7. Lady Amherst’s Pheasant
The species is native to southwestern China and far northern Myanmar, but has been introduced elsewhere. Previously, a self-supporting feral population was established in England, the stronghold of which was in West Bedfordshire. Lady Amherst first introduced the ornamental pheasant on her estates, near the Duke of Bedford’s Woburn Abbey, where the birds were also shot for game and interbred. However since late 2015 the species has been believed to be extirpated in Great Britain with no confirmed sightings since March 2015.
The adult male is 100–120 cm (23 in.) in length, its tail accounting for 80 cm of the total length. It is unmistakable with its nuchal cape white black, with a red crest. The long grey tail and rump is red, blue, dark green, white and yellow plumage. The “cape” can be raised in display. This species is closely related to the golden pheasant (C. pictus), but has a yellow eye, blue-green bare skin around it. The bill is horn-coloured and they had blue-gray legs.
Lady Amherst’s Pheasant (Chrysolophus amherstiae) Female ©WikiC
The female is much less showy, with a duller mottled brown plumage all over, similar to that of the female common pheasant (P. colchicus) but with finer barring. She is very like the female golden pheasant, but has a darker head and cleaner underparts than the hen of that species.
Despite the male’s showy appearance, these birds are very difficult to see in their natural habitat, which is dense, dark forests with thick undergrowth. Consequently, little is known of their behaviour in the wild.
Lady Amherst’s Pheasant (Chrysolophus amherstiae) Zoo Miami by Lee
They feed on the ground on grain, leaves and invertebrates, but roost in trees at night. Whilst they can fly, they prefer to run, but if startled they can suddenly burst upwards at great speed, with a distinctive wing sound. The male has a gruff call in the breeding season. [Wikipedia with editing]
Wow! What another beautiful artistic Avian Wonder from our Lord.
GALLIFORMES – Fowl, Quail, Guans, Currasows, Megapodes
Phasianidae – Pheasants & Allies
GALLIFORMES – Fowl, Quail, Guans, Currasows, Megapodes
Artistic Birds From Their Creator I – Introduction
Artistic Birds From Their Creator II – Frigatebirds
Artistic Birds From Their Creator III – Galliformes Order
Artistic Birds From Their Creator IV – Monal
Artistic Birds From Their Creator V – Lady Amherst’s Pheasant
Birds That Can’t Fly – Creation Moments
Genesis 1:21
“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.”
There are quite a number of birds that cannot fly. This sometimes surprises us, but it shouldn’t. We tend to wonder how they “lost” the ability to fly, but, although there are some species that might possibly have lost an ability to fly (as losing such an ability usually involves loss of information, not spontaneous creation), there is no reason to suppose that many have lost an ability. After all, we do not wonder at mammals that fly (i.e., bats), and we accept that these were created on Day Five, whereas most mammals were made on Day Six. In the same way, most flightless birds seem to be perfectly designed the way that they are. Ratite birds, for example, have no keel on their sternum. The keel is what anchors muscles to the wings, to enable flight. But birds like ostriches, rheas, emus and kiwis show no evidence, either in extant species or in the fossil record, to suggest that they ever had a structure. Therefore, they have not evolved into such a state – they were designed like that by God because that is the best design for us.
Other birds are flightless for other reasons. Penguins, for example, do not fly, but they do sort-of fly through water! Again, this requires a particular type of design that could not arise by itself. God designed penguins just perfectly for their habitat and their lives.
Flightless birds do not support evolutionary ideas. God created them as He saw fit.
Prayer: Thank You Father, even for those creatures that seem so strange to us! But they are part of Your overall design, and they give witness to Your creative power. Amen.
Author: Paul F. Taylor
Ref: O’daniel, D. (2015), Flightless Birds—Alternate Flight Plan, < https://answersingenesis.org/birds/flightless-birds-alternate-plan/ >, accessed 1/30/2019. Image: CC BY-SA 2.5 Generic.
Common Ostrich (Struthio camelus) Memphis Zoo by Lee
Lesser Rhea (Rhea pennata) ©WikiC
Emu ((Dromaius novaehollandiae) Zoo Tampa by Lee
North Island Brown Kiwi (Apteryx mantelli) by Derek©©
