The Beauty of God's Creation in Birds
Flight dynamics are very complicated-but many birds fly. Yet, some birds can swim rather than fly (Penguins). Some walk better than fly (Ostrich, Roadrunner, Moa from New Zealand). All have a similar body structure form and are thus grouped together. Variation can be profoundly diverse and yet remain within a group. This diversity has not been shown to support or demonstrate evolution. No bird type shows "transition" form(s) into or from other life forms. See comments on Archaeopteryx in creation /evolution section. (Pictures by JGL)
Woodpecker-Expanded View Northern Flicker
This particular woodpecker is found throughout the US but has regional variations in its feather patterns. This one was seen in New Mexico and has reddish under wings. It appears to be a male as it has a coloration under it's beak The female would not have such a coloration.-JGL
"Ants and other insects, nuts, fruit and seeds make up the northern flicker's diet. Its predators include raccoons, feral cats, and hawks. The northern flicker reaches sexual maturity at one year. Its mating season lasts from February through July. Nests are excavated in dead trees or dead portions of living trees, generally 6 to 20 feet (1.8 to 6 m) above the ground, but as high as 100 feet (30 m). The nest's entrance is about 2.75 inches (7 cm) in diameter. Females usually lay five to eight eggs, which hatch after 11 to 16 days. Young leave the nest about four weeks after hatching. Under ideal conditions, two broods may be raised in one season. Northern flickers live up to 12 years."
From: tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/species/northernflicker/
"Ants and other insects, nuts, fruit and seeds make up the northern flicker's diet. Its predators include raccoons, feral cats, and hawks. The northern flicker reaches sexual maturity at one year. Its mating season lasts from February through July. Nests are excavated in dead trees or dead portions of living trees, generally 6 to 20 feet (1.8 to 6 m) above the ground, but as high as 100 feet (30 m). The nest's entrance is about 2.75 inches (7 cm) in diameter. Females usually lay five to eight eggs, which hatch after 11 to 16 days. Young leave the nest about four weeks after hatching. Under ideal conditions, two broods may be raised in one season. Northern flickers live up to 12 years."
From: tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/species/northernflicker/
Hummingbirds
Even in the midst of the beauty of their design hummingbirds reflect the Fall as they combat with each other.
"Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and constituting the biological family Trochilidae. They are the smallest of birds, most species measuring 7.5–13 cm (3–5 in) in length...known as hummingbirds because of the humming sound created by their beating wings...12 beats per second in the largest species, to in excess of 80 in some of the smallest...have the highest mass-specific metabolic rate of any homeothermic animal...exhibit sexual size dimorphism ... increased body heat that requires specialized mechanisms of thermoregulation for heat dissipation...The dynamic range of metabolic rates in hummingbirds requires a parallel dynamic range in kidney function...turbulent airflow conditions created experimentally in a wind tunnel, hummingbirds exhibit stable head positions and orientation when they hover at a feeder...While hovering, the visual system of a hummingbird is able to separate apparent motion caused by the movement of the hummingbird itself from motions caused by external sources, such as an approaching predator...hummingbird songs originate from at least seven specialized nuclei in the forebrain…the birds enter a hibernatory, deep-sleep state (known as torpor) to prevent energy reserves from falling to a critical level. During nighttime torpor, body temperature falls from 40 to 18 °C, with heart and breathing rates both slowed dramatically (heart rate to roughly 50 to 180 beats per minute from its daytime rate of higher than 1000)...Hummingbirds have long lifespans for organisms with such rapid metabolisms...North American species, the average lifespan is probably 3 to 5 years…, male hummingbirds do not take part in nesting... Two white eggs are laid, which despite being the smallest of all bird eggs, are in fact large relative to the adult hummingbird's size. Incubation lasts 14 to 23 days, depending on the species, ambient temperature, and female attentiveness to the nest. The mother feeds her nestlings on small arthropods and nectar by inserting her bill into the open mouth of a nestling, and then regurgitating the food into its crop. Newborn hummingbirds stay in the nest for 18-22 days..."
From Wikipedia
P.S. Unwisely, there is much assumed evolutionary terminology in this particular Wikipedia article. All of the observed structural variations could be place within a design framework with no mention of evolutionary philosophy.
From Wikipedia
P.S. Unwisely, there is much assumed evolutionary terminology in this particular Wikipedia article. All of the observed structural variations could be place within a design framework with no mention of evolutionary philosophy.
Kestrel-male
"The American kestrel (Falco sparverius), also called a sparrow hawk is the smallest and most common falcon in North America. It has a roughly two-to-one range in size over subspecies and sex, varying in size from about the weight of a blue jay to a mourning dove. It also ranges to South America and is a well-established species... subspecies adapted to different environments and habitats throughout the Americas. It exhibits sexual dimorphism in size (females being moderately larger) and plumage, although both sexes have a rufous back with noticeable barring. Its plumage is colorful and attractive, and juveniles are similar in plumage to adults.
The American kestrel usually hunts in energy-conserving fashion by perching and scanning the ground for prey to ambush, though it also hunts from the air." Wikipedia
The American kestrel usually hunts in energy-conserving fashion by perching and scanning the ground for prey to ambush, though it also hunts from the air." Wikipedia
Where and how did the Kestrel learn these cleaning/cooling habits? How did it learn to hunt, mate and build nests etc.? Intelligent design has the best answer-not evolution. Yet, according to the Bible the Kestrel also shows habits consistent with the Fall of the Creation-due to man's sin. It commonly hunts insects and small reptiles, but also will hunt small mammals. Per God's Word there was no death or dying of biological life forms before Adam's Sin. Was the Kestrel vegetarian before Adam's Sin? See below:
Genesis 5: 12
12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned...
Romans 8
20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Genesis 5: 12
12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned...
Romans 8
20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Cliff Swallows
Where did cliff swallows learn to build mud nests in the over hang of cliffs? What inspired them to mate and gave them (the females) the ability to lay eggs and the instinct to then lay on the eggs to incubate them, keeping them warm till fledglings hatched? And then to feed the chicks after they were hatched? The physical structures and habits of these birds and all birds argue for an Intelligence having designed them. The Scriptures say:
Genesis 1
20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
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.
22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. KJV
(pix by jgl)
A Wild Turkey
The turkey is a large bird in the genus Meleagris, native to North America. There are two extant turkey species: the wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) of eastern and central North America and the ocellated turkey (Meleagris ocellata) of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. Males of both turkey species have a distinctive fleshy wattle, called a snood, that hangs from the top of the beak. They are among the largest birds in their ranges. As with many large ground-feeding birds (order Galliformes), the male is bigger and much more colorful than the female…The genus Meleagris was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae. The genus name is from the Ancient Greek μελεαγρις, meleagris meaning "guineafowl". The type species is the wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)… A number of turkeys have been described from fossils. Wikipedia online 3-18-2022 The above turkey is a female. (pix by jgl)