INTRODUCTION  

Birds are among the most fascinating and breathtaking creatures on the face of the planet. They are graceful, acrobatic, and gifted with such sheer strength and speed that we are often awed by them. There are so many wonderful and beautiful birds on this planet – about 60 billion of them!  

Wherever you go you’re likely to see a bird or hear them sing.   Whether you’re in a city, up a mountain, in a rainforest, or even in a desert, there’ll be at least one of the 10,000 species of birds in the world living there. Have you ever wondered what makes a bird a bird? 

Is it their beaks? Well, while it’s true that all birds have beaks, a duck-billed platypus, which is most definitely not a bird, also has a beak.  Is it the fact that they fly? Well not exactly, because not all birds fly, like the penguin, ostrich and emu. And besides, other creatures like insects also fly. So, the ability to fly is definitely not what makes a bird a bird. 

So what is it, then?  Well, if you haven’t already guessed, what makes a bird a bird is its feathers. Every bird has feathers, but no other type of animal has been blessed with plumage of any kind. 

As we’ve noted, birds populate the entire planet. You see them in the sky, in the trees, in the fields and even out at sea. They can be flitting about in your backyard or swarming over the vast open oceans in a feeding frenzy, or winging their way across the skies in migration. 

Birds are warm-blooded creatures, much like bats and other mammals, but unlike other warm-blooded animals who give birth to live young, all birds lay eggs. 

Interestingly enough, birds are essential to preserving the balance in any ecosystem they live in; this is mainly because birds help to control the insect population. 

Birds primarily feed on insects as a high protein food. Throughout history, whenever insect populations have grown out of control, they’ve devastated crops and significantly impacted economies. 

In fact, there are recorded instances of large swarms of out-of-control insect populations devastating large swaths of forests and valleys, decimating every green thing in sight. But such occurrences are rare – not frequent or common – thanks in large part to birds. 

Did you know that when an insect population in a certain locality begins to disproportionately increase, numbers of bird eggs increase as well? It is one of those amazing feats of nature that points to a Master Designer, a Creator at work behind the intricate patterns we see around us. 

Another really interesting thing about the interaction between birds and insects is that, when insect populations grow too large, birds leave off eating other foods, like berries, fruits or seeds and focus solely on eating insects in order to cull the burgeoning population.

Birds are responsible for keeping our local insect population from wreaking havoc in our world.  Now, with birds being so important to us and our wellbeing, how do you identify and keep track of all the birds you might encounter in your yard, and beyond?

Well, birds have tell-tale markings that help you to identify them. These little differences are called field markings and are often seen in the various colours, shapes and features of each section of the bird. 

Certainly it’s easy enough to tell the difference between a crow and a magpie; a swallow and a kookaburra. But sometimes it can be hard to tell different species apart.

Did you know that the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird and the Calliope Hummingbird look almost identical? Or that the Purple Finch and the House Finch look remarkably alike as well? 

And what about their distinct calls? Each bird has a different sound that it produces using its voice box, which is not at all like a human voice box which has a single set of vocal chords stretching across it. 

Inside a bird’s voice box, which is named a syrinx there may be multiple muscles and interestingly, the more muscles a bird has attached to its syrinx the more sounds it can make; like the mockingbird who makes a wide variety of sounds, or the Australian lyrebird which is known to mimic many different sounds.

Fascinated? Well, we are too! Birds are some of the most delicate yet versatile creatures on the face of the planet and today we’re planning to take a closer look at who they are and how they live. Join us as we take an incredible journey into the amazing world of birds.

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SEARCHING FOR THE MARBLED FROGMOUTH

For the first stop on our journey into the world of birds we’re joining an expedition to film a very rare and endangered rainforest bird.  It’s part of the frogmouth family – large nocturnal birds with a very wide ‘frog-like’ bill.  Tawny Frogmouths are found throughout Australia.  They look a bit like owls and are often mistaken for owls, but they’re actually more closely related to the nightjars.  

We’ve come to O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat up in the Macpherson Ranges, about a 90-minute drive inland from the Gold Coast.  Bird lovers have been coming up here for nearly 100 years.  Today, many come to join Australia’s longest running birding program, where they can spot over 200 bird species residing in the World heritage-listed Lamington National Park. They can see species like the Albert’s Lyrebird, not found anywhere else on earth, as well as the Paradise Rifle Bird, Rufous Scrub Bird and the Regent Bowerbird.

But, we’ve come here searching for the very rare and vulnerable Marbled Frogmouth.  

They’re only found in some very small and isolated rainforest areas along the east coast of Australia.   Marbled Frogmouths are extremely hard to find or study. Two of the bird-guides here at O’Reilly’s have heard the distinct call of the Marbled Frogmouth at night.  They’ve spent many long nights out trying to locate them.

After weeks of searching for the scarce birds, Matt Kelly finally caught a glimpse of one late at night.  He camped out nearby and after a lot of patient searching discovered that the birds have a nest high up in the rainforest canopy.  These birds are so rare that they’ve never been filmed before. 

Excitedly, he contacted his colleague, Glen Threlfo, and together they dragged sections of their viewing tower through the dense rainforest and erected it near the tree where the nest is located.  Just getting the heavy metal sections of the tower to the site was an arduous and demanding job.  Then assembling and erecting it piece by piece also took the two bird enthusiasts hours of work.  But they finally got everything in place.

Then they eagerly clamoured up the tower to find out what the nest contained – but not without their cameras!  These men are dedicated birders, conservationists and filmmakers.  They’re guardians of the Rainforest.  They desperately wanted to film and photograph these rare birds, and learn more about them in order to preserve and save them for future generations.   

And so carefully and painstakingly they hoisted their cameras up the tower. It was a tense time because one false move and the fragile cameras could be destroyed.  But, finally the cameras reached the top of the tower and soon they were ready to start filming.

To their delight and joy there was a single fluffy chick in the nest.  There are 5 subspecies of Marbled Frogmouths.  Only 2 live in Australia in two relatively small regions – one in the far north on Cape York Peninsula, and then this one, the Plumiferous, or Plumed Frogmouth which is found only in small pockets of rainforest in south-eastern Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales.  

The species is rare and is listed as vulnerable.  So, this chick isn’t just cute, it’s also very precious and important to the long-term survival of its species.   Both parents incubated the egg and now share the responsibility of raising the chick.  The Marbled Frogmouth is the smallest frogmouth, much smaller and slimmer than the more common Tawny Frogmouth.  

The plumage is generally rich brown, delicately streaked or mottled with black and spotted with white, which looks like marble from where it gets its name.  They also have a prominent tuft of feathers, or plumes, over their bill from where they get their other name – the plumed frogmouth.  Their marbled colouring gives the appearance of rough bark, and when they’re disturbed they freeze motionless, relying on camouflage to conceal their presence.

Marbled Frogmouths have the most comical and amazing territorial call.  It combines a turkey-like gobbling sound followed by a loud clap made by the snap of the bill.  They generally spend their time deep in the rainforest in sheltered gullies along forest streams.  They do most of their hunting at night and their diet consists mainly of large nocturnal insects. 

BIRDS OF A FEATHER

Looking at this family of Marbled Frogmouths with their similar and beautifully streaked and mottled plumage, makes us marvel at the mechanics of flight and the amazing design of a bird’s feather. Have you heard the expression ‘birds of a feather flock together?” Well as it turns out the term was coined because birds are attracted to other birds that have feathers that are of a similar shape, size and colour to their own. 

You might think that a bird recognizes another bird of its same species because it learned to recognise its parents when it was a hatchling like this young marbled frogmouth, but that’s not actually what happens. 

Take a Channel-billed Cuckoo in Australia, or a Cowbird in America, for example. Both species lay their eggs in the nests of other birds and allow a completely different bird to hatch and raise their young. Surprisingly though, when a baby cuckoo or cowbird grows up and leaves its adoptive parents’ nest it is not plunged into an identity crisis. 

Cuckoo’s and Cowbird hatchlings who leave the nest are able to identify other cuckoos or cowbirds and instinctively join them, even though they’ve never seen another cuckoo or cowbird or had the opportunity to look in a mirror. 

This is because they have an innate instinct to look for and flock to other birds that have feathers of the same shape, colour and size as their own. This is a reminder of the design and order that we see throughout the natural world.  But there is much more evidence of genius and design when you take a closer look at a bird’s feathers.

Birds are the only animals on the planet with feathers.  Feathers are unique to birds.  And these feathers are amazing structures.  Tough and strong yet extremely light and bendable, feathers allow a bird to soar on the wings of the wind and cover great distances with ease. 

A bird’s feather is made up of two parts. The shaft is the hard hollow bony pole that runs through it. The shaft of a bird’s feather is made of keratin, the same material that our nails are made of.  And just like our nails, birds can’t feel the shafts on their feathers. Much like our own nails, birds’ feathers can be clipped without causing the bird any pain.

The soft part of the feather is called the vane. If you look closely at the vane of a bird’s feather, you’ll see that it is made up of hundreds of tiny barbs which look a bit like skinny hairs. These barbs form a complex design that help keep the bird in the air. 

If these barbs become separated, the bird combs them with its beak.  During this preening or maintenance process the bird uses its beak to apply pressure to the barbs as they pass through it, and there are tiny hooks on the barbules that interlock the separated barbs together like a zipper.  The preening also waterproofs and conditions the feathers by distributing oil from a gland at the base of the bird’s tail to each feather.

Now, the number of feathers on a bird varies according to the species, its age, and the season.  Most small songbirds have up to about 3,000 feathers on their bodies.  Birds of prey, such as eagles, have around 8,000 feathers, and a swan might have as many as 25,000 feathers. 

Each feather on a bird’s body is finely tuned and plays an important role in the bird’s activities.  Feathers allow birds to fly, but they also help them show off, camouflage, stay warm and keep dry.   Feathers truly are marvels of engineering that enable birds to fly great distances with ease and migrate from one region or habitat to another according to the seasons.      

Most birds migrate. Many of them migrate at least twice a year, once in the spring and again in the autumn. Some will gather in great flocks to make the journey together, while others fly alone. 

Amazingly each bird has a built-in map of where it must go and which routes it must take. Not only do they migrate but birds also make sure that they prepare for their journey well in advance.  They have the innate ability to plan ahead.  It’s as if they are delicately programmed to know exactly what to do.

They pack their bodies with food to fuel the journey and when their tanks are full, their  weight right, and their bodies strong, birds set off on their migratory route. Some birds fly all day and rest at night, while others fly day and night without rest until they reach their destination. 

A BILLOWING CLOUD

Every year in late September a great, billowing cloud of Short-tailed Shearwaters or  Mutton Birds, fly into their home colony on Griffith Island in Port Fairy, Victoria, along the southeastern coast of Australia. They also have colonies on Phillip Island in Victoria and at The Neck on Bruny Island in Tasmania.  

The shearwaters are Australia’s most numerous seabird.  They are small birds no bigger than a domestic pigeon, with steel grey wings and a lighter grey chest.  At the same time each year millions of them converge on many small islands from New South Wales to Western Australia, and in particular on Griffith Island in the Bass Strait.

They arrive within 48 hours of the 22 September like clockwork each year. Shearwaters spend much of their lives out at sea flying up to 32,000km a year, only coming into land to breed.

They dig shallow burrows in the sandy soil near the coast. The burrows look a lot like rabbit burrows but run horizontally. They can be up to two metres long and are close to the surface. 

Once these burrows, which serve as nests are ready, each breeding pair lays just one egg which takes 53 days to hatch. The eggs are laid in late November and by midsummer a small downy chick emerges from the egg. 

During the nesting period both parents take turns to guard the egg, one flying off to hunt for food while the other keeps watch. Shearwaters mainly fish by day and rest at night, feeding on krill and other small fish for sustenance. 

Experts estimate that the current global population of breeding short-tailed shearwaters is around 20 million. Shearwaters have an average life expectancy of about 15-19 years, but some have been known to live up to 38 years. 

There are about 10 species of shearwater that can be seen along Australia’s eastern and southern coasts, diving into the water and skimming across its surface.  All shearwaters fish for their food.  Their diet is mainly fish, krill and squid.  They have various fishing techniques; they can dive while in flight, or dive while swimming on the water’s surface.

They will often attack a school of small fish or a bait-ball and compete with larger fish as they hunt for their prey.  This can result in mayhem in the water as the bait ball is attacked from all angles – below from the large fish, and above from the shearwaters.  Shearwaters are excellent swimmers and can kind of ‘fly’ through the water propelled by their half-extended wings as they hunt.  They can hold their breath for about 45 to 60 seconds and some even longer, and have been recorded diving to the astonishing depth of 70 metres, but generally dive up to 20 metres.    

By mid-Autumn in the southern hemisphere, exactly on the 16 April, after their chicks are large enough to fend for themselves, the adult shearwaters leave the island. The chicks remain on the island, moulting their downy plumage and getting their wings ready. Two weeks later on the 3 May, the chicks take off from the island as well. 

Shearwaters typically travel huge distances by catching wind currents with their long narrow wings. Shearwaters also have a special flying pattern that they utilise to give them an edge: a few short beats of their wings followed by a long glide. 

The birds utilise every minute of daylight that they can, chasing the sun and clocking in a massive 32,000 kilometers of frequent flyer miles between the south coasts of Australia and the North Pacific Arctic Circle every year. 

Their migratory trips take about six weeks in each direction. Interestingly, during the breeding season, short-tailed shearwaters fly all the way down to their Antarctic feeding grounds, meaning in one year they can fly from the Arctic to the Antarctic for an eternal summer.

This is mainly because during the summer the days are longer in the northern and southern polar regions, clocking in almost continuous daylight with warmer temperatures. The short-tailed shearwaters certainly are flying wonders of the natural world.  However, they aren’t the only birds that undertake marathon flights using astonishing navigation skills. 

MOVING ON

Take for example the Little Stint.  It only weighs 25 grams and is about 13 cm long, and yet it migrates thousands of kilometres.  They nest in the Siberian Tundra, then migrate south, stopping off on the muddy shores of the Yellow Sea to refuel, before continuing on to northern Australia.  

And then they extend their journey, flying across the harsh interior of Australia until they reach the shores of the east and southern coastline.  And then in six months’ time they do it all again, in reverse – not a bad feat for a bird weighing little more than a box of matches! 

And then consider the Arctic Tern.  They nest in the Arctic up near the north pole in the northern summer.  Then when summer ends, they fly all the way to the Antarctic and spend the southern summer near the south pole.  Then, they may circle the entire continent of Antarctica before heading north to return to the Arctic.  They range from pole to pole in a life of almost complete daylight and clock up about 36,000 km a year.  

Now, in a much shorter flight but just as remarkable, considering its size, the ruby-throated hummingbird in its migration of 1,000 km crosses the Gulf of Mexico, beats its tiny wings up to 75 times a second for 25 hours.  Over 6 million wingbeats without stopping.  And it’s only 8 cm long and weighs just 3 grams – equal to 3 paper clips or a 10c coin!

The Bar-tailed Godwits are the ultra-marathon champions of the bird world.  They fly about 12,000 km in one non-stop journey, further than any other known bird.  They fly from New Zealand to China and then to Alaska.  Recently a Bar-tailed Godwit fitted with a solar-powered location tracking device landed near the mouth of the Tweed River on the east coast of Australia after travelling over 13,000 km across the Pacific in one hop.  

Now, to put that in perspective, this one-way trip took 5 million wingbeats.  That’s 10 million wingbeats for the round trip.  The one-way journey took 239 hours, or just under 10 days.  And remember this was non-stop.   This bird will make that same trip flying about 30,000 kms each year for 20 years.  That means that in its lifetime it will fly about 600,000 kms – equivalent, almost to the moon and back.  

MYSTERIES OF CREATION

So why do birds migrate? Some birds only migrate in summer, while others only in the winter. How do they know when to leave and where to go?  And remember, that many migrations are made for the first time by young birds on their own, without adults.  So, how do they know where and when to go? 

These questions have baffled scientists for a long time and they are still digging up answers. One of the most accepted answers is that they have an inner alarm which goes off when it is time for them to go where food is most readily available. 

Many scientists believe that the length of the day signals to birds when they should migrate. When the days grow shorter in autumn and sunlight wanes a bird’s body produces certain hormones that tell the bird that it’s time to take to the skies.   Yes, much has been learned, but much is still a mystery.  People cannot explain it.  Evolution can’t account for it – not even in a billion years.  

The feathers, instinct, intelligence, and design that we see in birds cannot have happened by chance.  Their feathers, instinct, intelligence, and design demand an intelligent source.  They call for an intelligent master designer.   Perhaps the best answer about the origin of birds, their feathers and their migration instincts is found in the very first book of the Bible – Genesis, the book about beginnings. 

The Bible says in Genesis 1:20-21,

“Then God said…let birds fly above the earth, in the open expanse of the heavens…and God created…every winged bird according to its kind and God saw that it was good.” 

God created birds on the fifth day of creation week with nothing more than His word, and when He stepped back to take a good look at the array of magnificent feathered creatures He had created He was compelled to pronounce them all ‘good’ – outstanding, magnificent!  Birds migrate because God made them so – He designed them that way.  It’s that simple.   Birds provide evidence that God created the world and everything in it, including you and me.

NATURES’ LESSON BOOK

When Jesus was here on the earth He often used nature to illustrate important spiritual truths. In fact, nature is one of the lesson books that God uses to help us to understand him better.  The Bible mentions birds over 300 times.  And Jesus referred to birds many times in His teachings. 

For example, in Matthew 10:29-31. Jesus said, 

“Are two sparrows not sold for a farthing? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your father. But even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not fear; you are more valuable than a great number of sparrows.”

Using the illustration of sparrows, small brown birds that were sold in pairs for a Roman copper coin that amounted to about one sixth of a labourers daily wage, Jesus assured his disciples, and by extension all of us who read his words that we are extremely important to him. 

In fact we are so valuable to Him that God has numbered the very hairs on our heads. If God has his eyes on a tiny sparrow, then how much more important are human beings, who are created in his own image and for whom he sent his son to die? 

Jesus says this in Matthew 6:26, 

“Look at the birds of the sky, that they do not sow nor reap, nor gather crops into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more important than they?” 

Jesus wants us to know that God’s love is constant and that He really does care for us, and He referred to birds to help us better understand this.  

And again in 1 Peter 5:7 the Bible says, 

“Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares about you.” 

We live in a world filled with anxiety and Jesus calls us to cast all our worries, fears and anxieties on Him, because he cares for us.   

Sometimes when we’re in the midst of the storms of life it can seem that Jesus doesn’t care that we are perishing, but the truth is He’s right there with us and his word can calm the tempest in our souls. 

If you are going through a rough patch in your life right now, know that you are not alone. Jesus sees you and most importantly Jesus cares about you. His eye is on the sparrow and if he can see the sparrow, if he provides for the sparrow, then how much more does he care for you?   So, whenever you see a bird remember 2 important things:  God made you and He loves you.

SPECIAL OFFER AND CLOSING PRAYER

If you would like to find out more about birds, these magnificent feathered wonders of the natural world, and God’s love for you, then I’d like to recommend the free gift we have for you today.

It’s the booklet,  Birds – Wonders of Nature.  This booklet explores the beauty and amazing attributes of birds and will instill in you a connection to the world around you, and ignite a sense of wonder about birds and all living things.    

This booklet is our gift to you and is absolutely free. I guarantee there are no costs or obligations whatsoever. So, make the most of this wonderful opportunity to request your free gift now.

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Be sure to join us again next week when we will share another of life’s journeys together. Until then, let’s put our faith and trust in the One whose eye is on the sparrows, but who cares for us even so much more.

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for your constant love and care for us.  Even when we are going through rough patches in our lives, may we remember that we are never alone. May we always remember that you see us and care for us.  Your eye is on the sparrow and if You can see the sparrow, if You provide for the sparrow, then how much more do You care for us?  Bless us we pray, in Jesus name, Amen