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| Blue jays are also responsible for planting forests. |
Let's just assume for a moment that God created the heavens and the earth, a basic concept in science until the Age of Rationalism - aka the Enlightenment.
If God created the universe through Christ, the Creating Word, then everything would have the marks of that origin. And they do.
When we enjoy the marvels of nature, we are looking at the handiwork of Christ. "Nothing was made apart from Him." John 1:1ff
Some things are easy to predict with a little observation and reading. For example, Sharon Lovejoy emphasizes a variety of seeds to attract a variety of birds. Because of her books, I have varied the seeds, to include a mixture of corn and other delights in the Big Cob from Pennington.
For the bird feeder near the window, I put in a bag of finch feed, which is thistle seed plus hulled sunflower seeds. I already had purple finches, but that added a group of goldfinches to the lineup. Goldfinches really like thistle and hulled sunflower seeds. A little change brought them. In them the males will change their livery from blah to gold, white, and black.
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| Most people love goldfinches. |
The goldfinches like to line up for the seeds, so the overflow waits on the Jackson EZ Bird Swing. I told my wife, "Look at the goldfinches on the swing." Two were feeding while one at a time waited on the swing.
Birds jostle for seed, but they also wait their turn. At the Jackson Bird Spa today, two types of doves (mourning and rock) were working the ground while starlings ate the sunflower seeds and suet. When the Big Cob on the filing cabinet is scattered by starlings and squirrels, the ground feeding birds share in the bounty. Doves are not so likely to land at waist height. Nor do they spar as much as starlings, but they will work the ground thoroughly and patiently.
Starlings normally arrive as a flock and feed as a flock, landing after the scout bird shows all is safe, and taking off as a group if the scout bird is spooked.
Corn will bring blue jays, who also love peanuts. Suet is ideal for woodpeckers, starlings, chickadees, nuthatches, and other insect eaters. I will feed suet to birds all summer because it is inexpensive at the meat market and leverages the insectivore population.
The birds alone show an adroit management style that we take for granted, though not one person can come close to copying what God does. For instance:
- Birds favor different foods, so they get rid of a wide variety of pest.
- Birds nest at all levels and feed at all levels.
- Territorial birds only worry about their own species, so many species can share the same yard and multiply the ways they feed and help out our modest efforts.
- Raptors take out the weak, strengthening the flock.
- Birds are great builders, creating a wild variety of nests. Who gave them the blueprints?
- Birds tighten their grip when asleep. so they have no trouble staying safe on a perch at night.
- Baby birds need bugs and grubs to grow, and those creatures are most abundant in the spring, when the babies hatch.
- Aquatic birds make sure new ponds have fish by bringing fish eggs on their legs from other locations.
That only starts the list. These feathered wonders always work in conjunction with the other creatures, depending on them for food and providing them fertilizer.
Birds Flock To Your Yard, Entertain You, and Eat Your Pests If You:
- Provide water at all times for bathing and drinking - multiple locations.
- Offer various kinds of shelter instead of making the yard look like a pool table, green and flat and dull.
- Leave piles of leaves around to generate more food.
- Mulch the garden and bushes.
- Provide foods they can use, from suet to seeds to fruits.
- Grow foods they enjoy - berries, sunflowers, and seed-producing flowers.
- Hang dryer lint and string for their nests.
- Love dead logs and dead trees. They are somebody's home.
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| "Your home is made of dead trees. Why can't I have mine?" |