Perching Birds (May 28)

Did you ever wonder how perching birds can sleep on branches without falling off? God has given them a special toe-locking device! In each leg is a tendon that is attached to the underside of the toes, stretching up the leg to the back of the “ankle,” and attaching to the leg muscle. When the bird relaxes, it bends its “ankle” which pulls on the tendon and causes the toes to curl more tightly. The more the bird relaxes the more it bends, and the more it curls its toes. The tendon even has hundreds of ratchet-like projections that mesh with the grooves in the tendon sheath. It is virtually impossible for a bird to fall off a perch while sleeping. As the bird stands up, the tendon is relaxed, and the feet are released.

Evolutionists would have us believe that this special toe-locking device happened by accidental changes over millions of years. If the tendon was present without the ratchet-like projections, how would the tendon stay taunt? And what about the ratchet-like projections, they require a complimentary groove for them to function properly? These parts had to be present from the beginning. Our Creator cares even for the way a bird perches.

Matthew 13:31-32

KJV: Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

NIV: He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed,which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”

Reference

Parker, Gregory & Keith Graham & Delores Shimmin & George Thompson. 1997.

Biology God’s Living Creation. A Beka Book: Pensacola, Florida. p. 452.

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Bird feet and legs