We have the joy of listening to the springtime mating songs of the birds which have returned from their winter habitat to nest in our area. Since we have several birdfeeders, a water source, and lots of trees, many of the birds are attracted to our place–that and the fact that we don’t have any dogs to chase them away!  It is also interesting to keep a log of when each of the species arrives, often within a day or two of previous years. And, they know just where to go to get a snack to replenish the “fuel” they used up in their migratory route!

     Our investment in bird seed is rewarded with getting to watch them and listen to their “music.”  Some of them, such as the rufous-sided towhee have beautiful, melodic songs. Others, like the black-capped chickadees, have very repetitive refrains that they sing, and others, like the flicker and pileated woodpeckers, stellar jays and blue jays have very shrill, raucous  songs. Among our favorite songsters, besides the towhee, are the meadowlark and the red-wing blackbird. 

     May is probably the month we get to hear the most music, as the returned birds are seeking a mate. It is primarily the males that are the greatest songsters as they attempt to woo a female with their best renditions. We had one particular red-shafted flicker that apparently had trouble finding a partner. Not only do they sing with all their lungs, but they also “rat-a-tat-tat” on a tree or rooftop or whatever they can find that makes a really loud sound that will carry up for a great distance. This flicker could be heard daily for several weeks sending out his “love call.”  Hopefully he found his true love! Maybe these flickers need to learn from the Canada geese that mate for life!

     The enjoyment of the singing of birds is one of the oldest forms of appreciation of God’s creation. As early as 1650, bird songs had been transcribed into musical notation and were later incorporated into compositions by Beethoven, Vivaldi, and others. Bird song has even found a place in literature. Keats praised its beauty in Ode to a Nightingale and Walt Whitman used the repetitive call of the mockingbird to set the rhythm for his poem Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking. Like the beauty and aroma of wildflowers and the colors of a sunrise or sunset, bird song has a profound effect on the human senses. In the chaotic upside down world in which we live today, listening to the music of birds can lift our spirits and refocus our attention on God, “who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy” (I Tim. 6:17). 

     In addition to their mating songs, many birds have quite a repertoire to meet the need of the occasion. They have their “this is my territory” notifications. They have signals to warn others of danger. They have “words” of encouragement, like the honking/cackling of the Canada geese as they migrate. We have many crows which show up here in the spring and they supposedly have at least 50 different messages that they share. I know, when they get together, they are really noisy. Cardinals are known to have at least 28 tunes and researchers have recorded 684 variations of the song sparrow. But the champion is the brown thrasher, said to have upwards of 2,000 songs!

     Beautiful or not, the songs of birds fill the North American spring and summer months. The varying light intensity of a summer day cues different birds to begin their concerts. Robins, for example, often begin their songfest at the first hint of light. Some, like the vireos and wrens and chickadees may sing all day. And the night is not without its background music from mockingbirds, whippoorwills and owls. The summer air is rarely without song!

     So why do birds sing and why such a variety of songs?  Evolutionists have no explanation. They can only attribute it to time and chance, but the variety makes no sense to them.  Well, the Bible has the answer, way back in Genesis. On the fifth day of God’s creation week, “God said, ‘Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.’ And God created the great sea monsters, and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that is was good. And God blessed them saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth’ ” (Gen. 1:20-22).  

     And, just as God created an immense variety of sea life, each with unique features, so God created a large variety of birds, each with its own distinct characteristics and communication skills.  Every bird has a unique “song” and “language.”  No two species speak quite the same “dialect.”  As we listen to the songs and communications of the many bird species we are privileged to observe, we praise God for the display of His splendor that He provides for us to enjoy. What a wonderful God we serve!  In this world torn apart by sin, the glory of God still shines through–if we are watching for it. Just imagine what heaven will be like with no more curse or sin!

     And speaking of “songs,” when (at the time we are “born again”) God lifts us up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay and sets our feet upon a rock, making our footsteps firm, He also puts a new song in our mouth, a song of praise to our God! (Psa. 40:1-3). 

Forever His,

Pastor Dave