Blue Prints For Birds

The mystery of the rat-a-tatting on my roof the past couple weeks has been solved. Stellar Jays have been plucking hazelnuts off my tree, taking the delicacies to the rooftop, and proceeding to peck and pound away until the husk is gone and only the nut remains. Clever birds.

I discovered the solution to my riddle when I saw a jay pecking at a lower limb of a rhododendron just outside my window. Upon further observation, I discovered that Mr Jay was working over a hazelnut, not the rhodie branch. Rat-a-tat, rat-a-tat-a-tat. Several minutes of head-pounding work went by before the bird considered his job done. Then off he flew, nut in beak, to dine at some unknown destination.

Now, as a hungry jay is once again processing his harvest on my roof instead of the nearby bush, I don't have to wonder what in the world is going on. I can now marvel at God's creativity when he created the Stellar Jay with its black crested head and breast, and deep blue wings, tail, and body. Of our local birds, the jay is not only one of the most beautiful, but also one of the noisiest. Only the crow offers any competition in the bird call arena.

How in the world did birds learn to open shells or remove husks to get at the seeds any way? That is my question of the day. Discovering nuts in already broken shells might have been part of the process, then observation by the young probably continued the scavenging eating habits. But to identify a whole nut, then intentionally work and work to get at hidden goodies takes intelligence. I know that jays, like crows, are smart birds. That is a given. "Something more" is also at work in bird brains. I believe God has given each created species, not merely birds, knowledge that is hardwired into their brains.

For birds, food gathering is just one, nest building is another. Nests built of branches and twigs that withstand 100 mile per hour winds, mud and grass nests with multiple rooms that hang gracefully from tree branches, tiny nests held together with spider webs, as well as intricately woven nests made of long blades of grass can't be self-taught in time to rear a family. There is no time to find a mate, figure out how to build a nest, lay and brood eggs, and feed hungry mouths if trial and error were the formula for nest building. Failed nest after failed nest, in my opinion, would only lead to rapid extinction.

Besides, once a successful nest was built, the hatch-lings hadn't watched the process, so how could they repeat the process when the time came. Once fledged, soon-to-be nest builders didn't go to nest building school. They instinctively knew what kind of branch, trunk, reed, or grassy field to build in. They knew how to  attach the infrastructure to the branch. They knew how to weave, carry mud, find padding, deepen holes, and whatever else it took to build a nest. They just knew how to build a home that would withstand most anything, whether weather or predator. An engineering degree wasn't necessary because Creator God lovingly placed the necessary blue prints, building codes, and weight restrictions in their brains.

Can I prove this? No, but this is what I believe.
Jan