Did you know that
hummingbirds are so brilliantly colored due to their wing feathers refracting
the light in a very highly sophisticated way due to prisms within each
individual feather? Did you know that hummingbirds literally “die” every
evening – in what is called Torpor – and waken in an instant the next morning
to resume their little lives?
I didn’t know either of these
facts until I watched “Refracted Glory – Marvels in every way”
film/documentary. Produced by Benjamin Owen, Hosted by David Rives, and
featuring Ken Ham, this documentary is filled with information on hummingbirds,
the tiny little wonders of God’s Creation.
First we were taken in the film back in
time to the North American Aboriginals and how they worshipped these little
creatures because of their ability to “die” and then “revive” themselves, as
well as for their bright colors.
Many cultures in history
worshipped hummingbirds and were considered omens and life-givers. However,
these amazing birds’ unique little mechanisms to function all point to an
intelligent design.
For a hummingbird to function
correctly all of its mechanisms would have to be intact during the evolution
process. If one part were not in synch the whole bird would have gone extinct!
However, we see that God
created birds on the fifth day! Yes, they were certainly intact and fully
formed. Trees and plants were created on the third day and the fruit were ready
for picking. However by the time hummingbirds came along we would have seen
flowers – just in time for everything to work in perfect harmony!
Hummingbirds are certainly
amazing little creatures. Did you know that these little birds can see a wider
color spectrum than humans can? This means that they have more rods and cones
in their eyes. Hummingbirds can see ultraviolet light, which we refer to as
“black light” because we cannot see it!
Additionally, although
hummingbird eyes are on the side of their heads, they have additional features
in their eyes that allow them to see binocular and monocular vision. This means
that although they do have eyes on the side of their heads they can all angles
including straight on. Just to give an idea of how important their eyes are,
hummingbirds’ brains weigh less than their eyes!
Hummingbirds are efficient
little creatures in flight. They fly different from all other birds, moving
their wings in a figure eight in a specialized motion that only hummingbirds
can do.
Scientists are looking into
how they can create flight machines that resemble the hummingbird’s flying
pattern and efficiency but none have been found yet and it highly unlikely they
will ever be able to reach the complexity of these little birds while
maintaining the efficiency.
In the film Scientist Stuart
Burgess was interviewed. Burgess is
working on designing a humming-bird inspired flying gadget worth half a million
dollars in the UK. However, as he pointed out they would never reach the highly
intelligent and effective design of the hummingbird!
The film went on to explain
the migration of some hummingbirds and how the offspring know absolutely nothing
on their destination or what they need to do for their journey and yet each
year these young increase their weight by 100% and fly out ALONE to their
destination – the same place their parents went before them! Many scientists
believe these little creatures use the stars as compasses and have an inner guide,
which is telling them where to go and where their destination will be. I wonder where they get this inner guide? No doubt from God himself!
The filmography in this documentary
was phenomenal and watching hummingbirds in flight, slowed down by huge amounts, really showed the amazing complexity and uniqueness of these birds.
It is certainly a must watch.
Get ready to be amazed!
Get ready to be astonished at the works of our Creator.
And get ready to realize the evidence of intelligent design.
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