I have been a subscriber to Alois Absenger. He is a great photographer in Southeast Styria, I believe. I could not resist sharing his latest photo.
11 Mouths to feed ©Alois Absenger
“Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” (Matthew 6:26 NIV)
Check out his site at: https://aloisabsenger.wordpress.com/2020/06/19/11-hungrige-kohlmeisen/
Thought you might enjoy this Raven. Not your typical Avian Wonder.
“Who provides food for the raven, When its young ones cry to God, And wander about for lack of food?” (Job 38:41 NKJV)
Most ravens have to search for their food, that the Lord provides. This Raven seems to have figured out how to charm this young man into providing food for him. There is a lot of trust shown here by both. The Lord has provided to feed the raven through this human.
Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus) by Nikhil Devasar
For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.” (Romans 12:3 NKJV)
In a recent post, Rabbit Chasing Sandhill Crane, I mentioned that Dan and I have been re-reading “Things I Have Learned” by Dr. Bob Jones, Sr. Today, I’d like to tell another short excerpt about the singing of a Mockingbird and the strutting of a Peacock.
The lesson has to do with having a “big head.” The Lord has given every Christian certain abilities or “talents.” How we use them and how we may feel about those gifts. Some believe that those talents were their own and lean toward becoming an “egomaniac”
“The Bible recognized that. God tells you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think. You are not so tremendously important.” School might grieve for a few days if you died, but.. “…I have seen many a man die whom nobody knew how to get along without, and yet somehow or other things went right on. The world kept moving.”
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) By Dan
“Young people, I meet many people along life’s way who are failures because they overemphasize their own importance. That is the temptation of talented people. The fact that you have talents does not mean you are brilliant. Some people with much talent have little reasoning ability. Some people have special gifts for which they deserve no credit whatever. The just have gifts.”
Patagonian Mockingbird (Mimus patagonicus) ©WikiC
“What credit does a mockingbird deserve for singing? He is just made that way. When a mockingbird sings, he is not strutting his stuff.”
“A peacock struts. He has tail feathers, but he didn’t make them. God Almighty bent over heaven and stuck all those feathers in his tail. I know some people who can sing and play and act. That is about all they can do; yet they get to thinking they are wonderful.”
Peacock at Magnolia Plantation by Dan
“What have you on this earth you didn’t get from somebody else? What are you stuck up about? Do you know the cure for the big head is? It is to sit down and realize two things: first, anything you have, you got from God; and you are custodian of that gift –a trustee. Then think of somebody else in the world who has something you don’t have.”
Quotes from, Things I Have Learned, Chapel Talks by Bob Jones Sr , 1992
House Finch in Snow ©WikiC
“But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; And the birds of the air, and they will tell you;” (Job 12:7 NKJV)
The last few days, the northern states of the United States and Canada have been experiencing extreme cold temperatures. Watching the news today, our Manatees, here in Florida, are heading in to the warmer waterways. But how about the birds?
Checking articles about how the Zoos protect their avian wonders during this severe cold snap, there were several interesting things that are being done to protect the birds.
In Chicago, they actually closed the “Lincoln Park Zoo …closed at 3 p.m. on Tuesday and was to remain shut on Wednesday, when temperatures are expected to reach a daytime high of around 14 degrees below zero. Brookfield Zoo planed to close its doors Wednesday and Thursday.” [edited to make it past tense, written Jan 28, 2019]
“To ensure the safety of our animals and staff, the zoo will only have a skeleton crew on site who will provide basic core functions, including animal care and to check on the facilities,” said Stuart Strahl, president and CEO of the Chicago Zoological Society, which manages Brookfield Zoo, in a statement.
That zoo has closed just three other times in its 85-year history: Feb. 2, 2011, due to a snowstorm; and Sept. 14, 2018 and April 18, 2013, because of significant flooding.”
“Lincoln Park Zoo spokesperson Jillian Braun said the zoo has closed just one other time due to extreme weather in recent memory. ”
Chicago Zoos to Close in Anticipation of Extreme Cold
Swallows Keeping Warm in Cold and Snow ©WTTW
Another article by the same source “Shiver, Fluff and Cuddle: How Birds Keep Warm in the Winter”
Even the Penguins in Canada aren’t too sure about this cold weather. See:
These Zoo Penguins Are Clearly Not Enjoying Canada’s Cold Winter
“The Calgary Zoo in Alberta had to bring its penguins inside after the weather dropped to -25 degrees below zero Celsius.
Calgary Zoo – Gentoo Penguins ©Inside Edition
The zoo’s 51 Gentoo penguins, Humboldt penguins, king penguins and rockhopper penguins, are usually brought in at some point every year.
“The keepers are able to call the penguins in and they have an instinct to want to be indoors when it gets that cold as well. We do this every winter when the temperature plummets to where it was a few days ago,” a zoo official told InsideEdition.com. “They are cold weather birds, but the temperatures were colder than they prefer.”
Another Zoo, Saskatoon zoo works to keep animals safe in extreme cold weather, says, “The species that might be tropical or from regions that never see minus temperatures have to come inside at the beginning of the winter season.”
Dunlins in Snow
The St. Louis Zoo in Missouri says, “On one of the coldest days in over 20 years, employees at the St. Louis Zoo are busy making sure animals are being cared for and protected from the dangerously cold weather….
“A lot of times you’ll see those animals adapted to cold weather actually being more active in the cooler weather than you would in the summer heat,” Anne Tieber, curator of birds. In the historic buildings that house the birds, monkeys, and reptiles, zookeepers keep the temperature around 70 degrees, with a little of humidly for the tropical plants and some animals.”
“One surprisingly warm place the zoo is the Penguin and Puffin Coast, the building is kept at a balmy 45 degrees year-round. So, right now it seems incredibly warm to the 7 degrees outside but flips to feeling cold in the summer.”
Enjoy these articles, plus a few more that tell how the wild birds also survive these extreme cold days and nights.
Chicago Zoos to Close in Anticipation of Extreme Cold
Shiver, Fluff and Cuddle: How Birds Keep Warm in the Winter
These Zoo Penguins Are Clearly Not Enjoying Canada’s Cold Winter
Saskatoon zoo works to keep animals safe in extreme cold weather
More:
COLD-WEATHER SKILLS OF FEATHERED FRIENDS – Zoo Atlanta
Keeping Warm in Winter is for the Birds
Do Animals Hate the Bitter Cold?
How Does Extreme Winter Weather Affect Wildlife?
How Canada’s zoos protect their animals from the bitter cold
Bar-headed Goose (Anser indicus) Lowry Park Zoo by Lee
While you were reading Bible Birds – Mountain Birds in Psalm 50:11 – Part I, did you notice where the birds/fowls are? Go to the last article and scroll through the verses. See if you find the ones listed below. Did you find any that I missed?
Most of them are from the mountains. Where else are they mentioned?
They are:
Common Cranes in Israel. Many species of crane gather in large groups during migration and on their wintering grounds
Common Crane (Grus grus) by Nikhil Devasar
Whose birds are they? What did the Creator say about these birds? Do the same again, before you look at this list. See what the Creator said about the birds.
This reminds us of “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will.”
(Matthew 10:29 NKJV) Do you know of any other verses that tells us about how God cares about the birds?
At the end of these verses from Psalm 50:11, what does the Word say about them?
White Stork (Ciconia ciconia) by Ian
As my pastor would say, let those words sink in. If God, the Creator, cares that much about the birds and animals, how much more does He care about us.
Psalm 50:11 refers to all the birds living in and around the mountains. One of those translations caught my attention when it mentioned the birds “flying over the mountains“. I have never heard of the VOICE translation, but this is how it reads:
Bar-headed Goose (Anser indicus) Zoo Miami by Lee
“Every bird flying over the mountains I know; every animal roaming over the fields belongs to Me.”
Yes, all the mountain birds all fly over the mountains, but the Bar-headed Goose, that we saw at the zoo, is known to fly over the “peaks of the Himalayas on their migratory path.” At an altitude of 29,000 feet/8,800 meters. But this Goose isn’t the highest flying bird.
An article from Institute for Creation Research mentions high flying birds. “What about high-flying birds that have no such oxygen mask? How can they survive elevations of 15,000 feet and sometimes higher without a supplemental source of oxygen? Many bird migrations occur at extremely high elevations: 21,000 feet for the mallard duck, 27,000 feet for swans, even 36,000 feet for vultures!The article goes on to explain about the Creators design of such birds:
“A bird’s lungs function according to the through-flow principle: the inspired [inhaled] air collects in the bird’s posterior air-sacs and flows through the lungs to the anterior air-sacs before it passes back out. In the lungs the blood is oxygenated by fine air capillaries, where air and blood flow in opposite directions. Owing to this counterflow, the oxygenated blood that leaves the bird lung acquires a higher oxygen concentration than that corresponding to the oxygen pressure in the expired [exhaled] air.
In addition to flow-through lungs, birds have hearts that are proportionately larger to their bodies than those of mammals—from 0.8 to 1.5% of total body mass, compared to mammals, which average around 0.6%. The birds’ larger hearts enable speedy blood transport and intensive oxygen renewal.”
Which is the highest flying bird? The Ruppell’s Vulture (Gyps rueppellii). One was hit by a plane at 11,300 metres (37,100 feet).
Rüppell’s Vulture (Gyps rueppellii) ©WikiC
Check out Top 10 Highest Flying Birds in the World – TMW. You might be surprised how high those birds can fly.
Do you have a tendency, at times, to just read a verse and then move on? Yet, sometimes it is good to check out some of the other translations. The last article showed photos of some of the birds that live in the mountains, but how about these that fly over the mountains. Only a Creator could design them to be able to fly that high.. Chance molecules, evolution, or whatever theory man comes up with will not explain the Wisdom that comes Only from the Lord Jesus Christ, their Creator.
High Altitude Flying For Birds – I.C.R.
List of Birds by Flight Heights – Wikipedia
Top 10 Highest Flying Birds in the World – TMW
Bible Birds – Mountain Birds in Psalm 50:11 – Part I,
Mountain Wheatear (Myrmecocichla monticola) ©WikiC
“I know all the birds of the mountains, And the wild beasts of the field are Mine.” (Psalm 50:11) NKJV
Hooded Mountain Tanager (Buthraupis montana) ©BirdPhotos.com
Mountain Blackeye (Chlorocharis emiliae) ©WikiC
Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides) ©Elaine R Wilson WikiC
Mountain Bamboo Partridge (Bambusicola fytchii) by Lee Zoo Miami
Mountain Quail (Oreortyx pictus) ©WikiC
Rufous-bellied Mountain Saltator (Saltator rufiventris)©Flickr Ron Knight
Tucuman Mountain Finch (Compsospiza baeri) ©Flickr Ron Knight
Blue-winged Mountain Tanager (Anisognathus somptuosus) ©Flickr Lip Kee Yap
Scarlet-bellied Mountain Tanager (Anisognathus igniventris) ©Flickr Joao Quental
Mountain Tailorbird (Phyllergates cucullatus) by© Wiki
Mountain Pygmy Owl (Glaucidium gnoma) ©WikiC
Mountain Caracara (Phalcoboenus megalopterus) ©WikiC
Mountain Imperial-Pigeon (Ducula badia) by Ian
Green-crowned Brilliant and Purple-throated Mountain-Gem by Ray
Mountain Hawk-Eagle (Nisaetus nipalensis) by Peter Ericsson
Mountain Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus sindianus) by Nikhil Devasar
Brandt’s Mountain Finch (Leucosticte brandti) by Nikhil
White-throated Mountaingem (Lampornis castaneoventris) by Ian
Mountain Thornbill (Acanthiza katherina) by Ian
Plate-billed Mountain Toucan (Andigena laminirostris) by Michael Woodruff
Colombian Mountain Grackle (Macroagelaius subalaris) ©WikiC
Birds of the Bible – Birds of the What??
(12) So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.
(13) And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
(14) Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch.
Ernesto Carrasco’s Noah’s Ark Model
(15) And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.
(16) You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.
(17) And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die.
(18) But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark—you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.
(19) And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.
(20) Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive.
(21) And you shall take for yourself of all food that is eaten, and you shall gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and for them.”
(22) Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did. (Genesis 6:12-22 NKJV)
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Birds of the Bible For Kids 