Birds

Birds

There are over 13,000 bird species in the world, with about 925 residing

in Canada and the United States. Several amazing bird facts are:

Heaviest and tallest bird: ostrich at maximum 345 lb and 9 ft

Greatest wingspan: wandering albatross at up to 11 ft 11 in

Fastest-moving bird: diving peregrine falcon at 117 mph

Fastest flapping flight. white-throated needle-tailed swift at 106 mph

Fastest level-flight. red-breasted merganser at 100 mph

Greatest number of feathers: whistling swan at 25,216

Lowest number of feathers: ruby-throated hummingbird at 940

Fastest wingbeat: hummingbirds at 90/sec

Slowest wingbeat: vultures at 1/sec

Longest two-way migration: Arctic tern at 25,000 miles

Most aerial bird: sooty terns at 3 to 10 years without landing

Fastest running bird: ostrich at 60 mph

Fastest running flying bird: greater roadrunner at 26 mph

Deepest dive for non-flying bird: emperor penguin at 1,772 ft

Greatest weight-carrying capacity: bald eagle lifting a 15 lb mule deer

Highest tree nest: marbled murrelet at 148 ft

From: www.trails.com/arts/amazing-bird-records.aspx

Those that deny the existence of God declare that birds evolved from reptiles.

Complex feathers formed from scales over millions of years.

This belief is adhered to with religious ferocity although the

fossil record and common sense does not support this blind faith.

The truth of Scripture will set one free from this lie. It declares that birds are part of

God's creation, brought forth on the fifth day of creation.

Then God said, “Let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens."

God created...every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good.

God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and let birds multiply on the earth." (Genesis 1:20-22)

The anatomy of birds is very complex.

The principle of flight is excellently described

by Dr. Andy McIntosh:

"Bird flight in particular is remarkable; consider feathers. If you look at a feather under a microscope, you see the main stem, with barbs coming out to the left and right, and from these you have left-and right-handed barbules. Now the interesting bit is that the left-handed ones have hooks, and the right-handed ones have ridges. The feather is made such that if you bend it, everything bends with it, and yet it’s a very light structure. So the hooks catch the ridges and they slide over the ridges—it’s a mechanical engineer’s dream to have such useful, lightweight engineering. But if you have a sliding joint, you need lubrication. To do this the bird twists its neck around 180º and dips its beak into a tiny oil gland right down at the back of its spine. It then preens itself, wiping this oil

all over its feathers, so that they join together nicely, and these sliding joints are oiled. That’s a marvellous bit of engineering."

- “Flying High”, An interview with Dr. Andy McIntosh, answersingenesis.org