Father, I need You to pierce through the distractions tonight. There is so much on my mind and I am struggling to focus. I fall into Your arms of love and compassion.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Those who have read my blog for any period of time, know that I love seeing the birds at my feeders from my office window. This year is a little different in that I have one lone feeder up. The others I have are in need of repair due to age and a pesky raccoon!

The one that is up was a Christmas gift from my sister, and it holds black oil sunflower seeds and two suet cakes (which were gifts from my niece and her husband!) It is in the shape of an owl! Being there is the only one out there, it has been bustling! I am surprised at the variety of birds it has drawn. We live in a rural area with probably 2-3 wooded acres behind our home. For that matter, all the lots around us are wooded. So, there is plenty of habitat for my feathered friends!

One of my favorite birds is woodpeckers. I have three different species of them that are regular partakers. I routinely see Downy, Hairy and Red-bellied woodpeckers throughout the day.

Woodpeckers are surely unique characters in God’s creation. They have several special features that allow them to thrive and survive. Here are a few interesting tidbits.

  • Most perching birds have three toes forward, and one back (anisodactyl feet), woodpeckers, on the other hand (foot?) have two forward and two back (zygodactyl feet). This helps them to get an extremely firm grip when scaling a tree and for when they are “drilling” for food
  • They have spike feathers in their tails! This enables them to use their tails as a third leg. These feathers can actually “dig” in the tree to provide more support and leverage while foraging for food or carving out a home.
  • They have super long tongues that are usually about twice the length of their bill so that they can reach for insects inside the holes they peck out. Their tongues are also either barbed or in some species are sticky to help pull out the insects.
  • They peck up to 20 times per second or a total of 8,000-12,000 pecks per day. But they don’t get headaches because they have reinforced skulls structured to spread the impact force, and their brains are highly cushioned and protected from repeated impacts and jostling.

They also have a unique flight pattern, have “furry” nostrils and make new holes for their homes every year.

So why all of this about woodpeckers? They are fascinating for sure but just thinking about how unique and specialized God has made them bring me great comfort. We are all created by our loving Creator – we are not accidents. He knows every detail about us. And we all have purpose and can be used by Him to bring Him glory – no exceptions! And if God cares that much about the “birds of the air” don’t you think He will care for us even more so?

Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow [seed] nor reap [the harvest] nor gather [the crops] into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth much more than they? Matthew 6:26-27 (AMP)

Apr 21st, 2020, Tue, 8:30 pm