By Claire Ensminger
Seventh grade
(A winning paper in the TCCSA Writing Contest)
Birds are the only winged creatures of God’s creation other than bats and insects. Unlike bats and all other animals, birds are covered in feathers instead of fur. Some birds are carnivorous and others are vegetarian. Meat, seeds, vegetables, and fruit are mainly what birds eat, depending on the species. A bird’s beak consists of a mouth bone covered in a hard skin.
Different birds use their beaks in different ways. All birds use their beaks when eating, but they also use their beaks in other ways such as holding food or other things. Woodpeckers use their beak to peck at trees to find bugs to eat. Birds that eat different things have beaks that are designed for what they eat. The bottom part of a pelican’s beak is shaped like a bowl. This shape helps it to scoop fish out of the water and to hold more than one fish in its mouth. Birds that eat seeds have short, strong beaks for cracking seeds. Cardinals have this kind of beak. Eagles and hawks are birds that eat small animals that they catch. They have strong, hooked beaks used for tearing apart meat. Insect-eating birds have short, wide beaks. The swallow has this kind of beak and catches insects flying in midair while the swallow itself is still flying. A toucan’s long beak helps it to reach seeds and fruit in trees for food. Beaks are also used to help some birds to climb trees. Parrots live in tropical regions where there are many trees and use their beaks this way. The hummingbird’s beak is long and thin. The shape of its beak helps it to reach into tube-shaped flowers in order to eat the nectar inside.
Eyes are important to birds just as they are for us humans. Eagles have very good eyesight. They can see fish swimming under the water even when they are flying high in the sky. Some birds are active during the day and some are nocturnal which means active during the night. The owl is one kind of bird that is nocturnal. Owl’s eyes are big so that they can get all the light they need to see and to catch their prey at night.
Wings are a bird s main way to travel. Each bird has its own unique wing shape. Most bird s wing bones are hollow which makes the bird lighter. This also makes flight for the bird easier. Even though the wing bones are hollow, they are still very strong.
An eagle’s wings are broad and allow the bird to fly high and soar slowly in order to look for its prey. Some birds such as the penguin cannot fly, but its wings are shaped like flippers used to swim under the water. This does not mean that they came from seals or any other animal. This just means that God created them with wings designed for where they live, at the South Pole. Hummingbirds wings are short, but they can beat their wings very fast. They can beat their wings up to 75 times per second. Because of their amazing design, hummingbirds can hover and even fly backwards.
Hovering makes it possible for the hummingbird to easily suck the nectar from flowers.
The feet of birds were created for where they live and how they live. Most birds that swim, such as ducks and geese, have webbed feet.
Webbed feet have a thin layer of skin between each toe, which helps propel the bird forward whether it is under the water or on the surface of the water. Eagles, hawks, owls and other birds of prey have strong feet with curved toenails called talons to hold its prey tightly. An ostrich cannot fly although it has wings, but it can run very fast.
Ostriches have long legs and only two strong toes on each foot, but they can run about 39 miles per hour.
There is no way these amazing animals can evolve according to evolution. Even if they could, there would be many things wrong with them. I m glad that we have a creator God that loves us and created all living things including humans with such loving care.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Morris, Dean. Birds . Raintree Childrens Books, 1997.
Chinery, Michael. Rainforest Animals . Random House New York,
1991.
Stacy, Tom. The World of Animals . Random House New York,
1990
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