Structure and Flight
Do they not see the birds committed to fly in
the atmosphere of the sky?
None holds them up in the air except God. This should be
(sufficient) proof for people who believe. (16:79)
That birds can fly and so efficiently
is miraculous. In order to work, such a flying machine must be amazingly
lightweight and yet incredibly tough and strong. To take off and maintain
flight, the bird can’t be too heavy. Yet to survive the conditions faced
in the air and the force of landing, it must be tough so as not to break
on impact. These two qualities (lightness and toughness) are exactly how
a bird is constructed.
The skeletal framework of a bird is rigidly interconnected with a very sturdy
spinal column of fused verte-brae. The neck is strong but incredibly flexible
as it must have the strength to support the head (keeping it motion-less
when in flight) yet flexible and ready to swing it suddenly in any di-rection,
bending far downward or up-ward to spot prey or predators. The number of
vertebrae in a bird’s neck varies from long-necked to short-necked birds.
This may sound obvi-ous. But a mouse has the same num-ber of cervical vertebrae
as a giraffe (seven). Birds have a minimum of 11. Flexibility of the neck
is achieved by a system of long bands of muscles and smaller muscles that
are perfectly co-ordinated. From the slow turning of an owl’s head to
the flash of a heron catching a fish, it’s a masterful ma-chine.
Bones in the bird are hollow and thin-walled for lightness with internal
struts for support. All weight is con-centrated toward the center of the
bird. At that center is a very large breastbone to which are attached the
pectoral muscles, the mighty muscles which drive the wings. Flight muscles
may account for 25-30 percent of a bird’s weight, compared to pectoral
muscles in the human which weigh less than one percent of total weight. These
muscles working to drive the wings build up great heat. To coun-teract this,
the bird has the most effi-cient respiratory system of any verte-brate. Rather
than a single pair of lungs the bird has a system of air sacs throughout
the body even in some of the hollow spaces in the bones. The air is taken
in quickly to all important parts of the body and the bird’s faster
heartbeat provides rapid circulation.
Good eyesight is an important prereq-uisite of flight. A bird relies more
heavily on vision than most animals. In some birds their eyes actually weigh
more than their brains. Birds can see distant things as much as eight times
more clearly than man can, and they also see close up much better. Most birds
have both monocu-lar and binocular vision. They can rely on what one eye
sees close up and then count on sharper binocular vi-sion for distances.
Have they not seen the birds above them lined up
in columns and spreading their wings? The Most Gracious is the One who holds
them in the air. He is Seer of all things.
(67:19)
Most important to flight are the wings and feathers. The wing is really an
arm with a large ball joint fitting into the socket in the shoulder. This
is a specialized joint allowing great mo-bility. The way the bird can rotate
as well as flap up and down gives the bird the ability to maneuver, slow
down, change direction suddenly and land gracefully.
The feather is a unique and wonderful creation. It’s light yet sturdy,
flexible, versatile and easy to care for, provides cushioning, thermal
insulation, and is water repellent and replaceable. Bright colored feathers
are important in some bird species for attracting a mate and for territorial
displays. Some birds have feathers camouflaged like their surroundings to
help them hide.
The simple looking feather is actually a very complex mechanism. There is
a center shaft attached to the skin. From this project many parallel branches
or barbs which in turn bear smaller bar-bules, which are equipped with hooks
and barbs. All of these barbs catch in one another like little zippers forming
a smooth surface. If the feather is ruf-fled and the connection broken,
it’s easily smoothed out and rehooked. On each feather there are millions
of these barbules hooking the feather to-gether. When the wings are folded
the feathers lie over one another like roof shingles with air spaces between
to insulate against heat loss.
With all the bird does, there is con-tinuous wear and tear on the feathers,
so they must be replaceable. That’s why birds molt on a regular basis.
Molting is a precise process, triggered in the least severe season. The feath-ers
are discarded usually in pairs (one from the right side and the corre-sponding
one from the left). And never so many that the bird can’t fly, although
it may be weakened. To compensate the new feathers grow in very fast.
None holds the birds in the air
except God
God holds them in the air. God gives them the physical construction to fly,
the use of wings. They can raise and lower the wings, can move them for-ward
or back, they can reduce the wing area, can rotate the wing at the shoulder,
can twist the wings. Then God gives them the instincts to know how to do
it. Birds don’t study the laws of gravity but they use them. From great
heights, they’ll tuck their wings and fall straight down, then pull
out the wings to provide resis-tance to slow down and land. They make it
look easy.
Hummingbirds can fly backwards. Penguins, who don’t fly, use their wings
like a powerful oar to move quickly through the water. Hawks can turn upside
down in full flight to catch smaller birds trying to escape, then right
themselves and fly on with-out missing a beat.
Birds use the wind with great skill, as if they studied science. Some birds
use land drafts to soar and glide, like an eagle using the currents in a
canyon. Over water, seabirds are incredibly adept at using drafts. Gulls
also have the instinct to use obstacles, like ships, which create extra updrafts.
They’ll follow motionless, looking as if they’re tied like a kite
on a string.
The structure of the bird and the miracle of flight are signs from God if
we choose to see them. This is a proof for people who believe.
The Mystery Of Migration
Have they not seen the birds above them lined
up in columns and spreading their wings? The Most Gracious is the One who
holds them in the air. He is Seer of all things.
(67:19)
Certainly of all things about birds,
one of the most incredible is migration. In ancient times, all kinds of strange
explanations were advanced to explain why certain birds disappeared in certain
seasons. It was believed swallows spent the winter sleeping at the bottom
of lakes. Aristotle announced that the European robin changed into another
bird, the European redstart, at the approach of summer, and then presumably
back into a robin. The Romans generally agreed, but claimed swallows turned
into frogs. In 1703 an Englishman wrote that birds flew to the moon taking
60 days to get there and then on arrival finding no nourishment went into
hibernation.
We now know that when birds disap-pear from one location it is because they
migrate. We know when they go, which birds go where, over what route. Some
are truly incredible jour-neys. The sandpiper goes from Can-ada to Tierro
del Fuego. The golden plover travels from the arctic to the pampas of Argentina.
Some barn swallows go 9000 miles from Alaska to Patagonia. Scandinavian swallows
end up at the southern tip of Africa. Little warblers weighing less than
an ounce take solitary night journeys from Germany to central Africa. The
arctic tern is the champion long dis-tance flyer, going between 10 and 14
thousand miles in its migration, breeding at the North Pole and win-tering
in Antarctica.
Those are the things we know. What still baffles scientists is the how. What
prompts them to start when they start and to return when they return? And
how do they find their way? For each new theory advanced, tests were per-formed
which disproved it. Do they use landmarks? A species of stork when migrating
south through the North American plains makes an abrupt turn to the west
at approxi-mately Great Falls, Montana to cross the Rockies. But it
couldn’t be land-marks, because birds cross vast stretches of ocean
to remote islands. The golden plover travels over 2000 miles from Alaska
to Hawaii over open seas. Some curlews go 6000 miles from Alaska to Tahiti
with no landmarks to follow.
Birds use the position of the sun. Ex-periments with birds in cages showed
that they would orient themselves to the sun and become confused by mir-rors
changing the sun’s position. Yet many species of birds migrate by night.
They then must use the stars. But while it’s true that birds rarely
start out on a cloudy night, they will continue their migration even if clouds
obscure the stars.
It is generally acknowledged now that all these factors apply. Birds do use
the sun by day and the stars at night and also the earth’s magnetic
field, perhaps also wind currents, land-marks and deep ocean sound vibra-tions.
How they use these things re-mains a puzzle.
And how do they know where to go? In an experiment a bird was carried from
its burrow in Wales to Boston, Mass. and released. Within two weeks, it was
back in its burrow, 3000 miles across the Atlantic, totally un-familiar
territory. The bronze cuckoo of New Zealand is raised by foster parents who
do not migrate, yet the young cuckoo migrates over 2500 miles of open ocean
to the Solomon Islands for its first winter.
They must carry within them a "map," which shows them instinc-tively the
route and the destination. And they must also have within them an internal
clock that tells them when to leave. The swallows return to Cap-istrano on
the same day each year and the vultures to Hinkley, Ohio (so man can marvel
and turn it into an event.)
Migration is an amazing phenome-non. It’s a difficult journey and many
perish, providing food supplies for other animals along the migration route.
A Mediterranean falcon lays its eggs later in the season than any other bird
so it can feed its young off the migration of other birds.
To help conserve energy and insure that the most individuals complete the
trip many birds fly in formation. The beautiful V-shape of the Canada goose
and others is the most efficient use of drafting. It saves a lot of energy
for the whole flock, each bird able to rest on the air currents created.
Who teaches them that?
Do you not realize that everyone in the heavens
and the earth glorifies God, even the birds as they fly in a column? Each knows
its prayer and its glorification. God is fully aware of everything they do.
(24:41)
While the ornithologists and scientists struggle and experiment and test
out theories, we know the truth. A bird flies because God is the One who
holds it in the air. It migrates along mysterious routes because it follows
God’s plan. Its flight is part of its glo-rification of its Creator.
The robin doesn’t wish it were an ea-gle. The crow doesn’t care
that he’s not colorful like the cardinal. The hummingbird doesn’t
want to try fish for change like the duck.
That’s a lesson for us. A sign for people who understand and take heed.
Our job is to worship God alone. If we can do that job even a fraction as
well as birds do their jobs, we might just be fortunate enough to fly with
them in heaven.
Lydia Kelley
info@submission.org
