Good morning. Let’s take a few minutes to think about the moment birds were created, shall we?

Creation, part 7: Birds

Did you ever think about Yahweh’s inspiration for bird anatomy? You might notice I’m careful not to say in this episode that Day 5 of creation is when Yahweh invents wings. Why? Because of course He’s already done that.

Exhibit A: Cherubim — “The sound of the wings of the cherubim was heard as far as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when He speaks.” (Ezekiel 10:5)

Ehibit B: Seraphim — “I saw the Lord sitting on a throne… Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.” (Isaiah 6:2)

These heavenly beings aren’t winged like birds. Birds are winged like cherubim and seraphim.

BITS AND BOBS

A few things of note as we consider the events of today’s episode:

Dancing, Building, Doing Impersonations

I think Yahweh must love that there are so many fantastic documentaries out there capturing extraordinary bird behaviors (and extraordinarily beautiful birds). Here are clips from some of my favorites:

Bowerbird dancing:

The amazing category of fowl that is “birds of paradise”:

A brief, fascinating exploration of the uniqueness of an owl’s flight:

The lyrebird’s wild ability to mimic:

The bowerbird’s extraordinary nest-building technique:

Flight Variations (and My Favorite One)

I don’t speak to this explicitly in this episode, but it’s fascinating to me how differently Yahweh decides to accomplish flight in various species. This is something I pay a decent amount of attention to, because as a colorblind person interested in birds, I have to rely on some of the more secondary/tertiary identifiers if I want to know what I’m looking at. Flight patterns come in handy in this regard.

If you haven’t paid attention to this yourself, head outside and give it a try. You’ll notice an entirely new category of difference and find yet more reasons to praise the Creator.

With that in mind, allow me to introduce a new term to you. Maybe you’ve noticed that certain birds (cardinals, for instance) do this thing while flying where they flap their wings and then stop, hurtling with their wings tucked, then flap again, then tuck them. (Contrast this with, say, a turkey vulture’s constant outstretched arms.) I recently learned there’s a term for the cardinal’s approach to flying: flap-bounding. Come on! That’s a great word.

I Do Love a Magpie

I know they haven’t historically been adored, but when we travel in the UK, I’m always delighted to see magpies. (They’re in the western US as well, but strangely I spend much less time over there than I do in Britain & Ireland.) I think they’re gorgeous, and magpies are famously intelligent—one of only a handful of animals, in fact, who pass the “mirror test.”

Here’s an excerpt from a piece from the interesting site “Ornitheology” (click over to read the author linking magpies and King David).

“Magpies can work in teams, make and use tools, imitate human speech, play games, recognize specific human faces, and seemingly express emotions like grief. There’s a lot going on inside that head.

But what truly separates magpies from the rest of the flock is their capacity for self-recognition — which leads us back to the riddle. What is the “it” that a magpie comprehends when so few animals do?

Its reflection.

The magpie is the first non-mammal to pass the “mirror test.” The test is relatively simple: place a mirror in front of any animal and see if it demonstrates an awareness that the image looking back at them is actually them.”

LISTEN

Here’s part 7 of the Holy Ghost Stories Creation series: “Birds”—enjoy!

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Gratefully,
Justin