Bird brains

I have reached an age where it doesn’t take much to entertain me. Probably not coincidentally, it is also an age at which many of the activities I once enjoyed sound more dangerous than fun. Which likely explains why I like to watch birds in my backyard. Yes, I’m officially old and boring. At any rate, some of my favorites are the hummingbirds.
 
But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.  –Job 12:7-10 (ESV)
 
We started hanging hummingbird feeders about five years ago. The first couple years we attracted a handful of birds that would appear sporadically, usually one or two at a time. The sugar water in the feeders would spoil, evaporate, or get filled with bugs long before it was consumed by the birds.
 
Also, the hummingbirds were very territorial. Anytime more than one showed up, they’d spar until only one was left. The remaining bird would then set up a perch nearby and drive away any interloper that might appear. But over time, things began to change.
 
When we put out the feeders the next year, a few more birds showed up. Rather than one or two, it was three or four, and while there was some diving and chattering, they would eventually settle down and share the feeders. Once they had their fill, they would then leave together.
 
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.  –Psalm 19:1-4a (ESV)
 
A couple more years have passed, and I now have to re-fill the feeders every day or two. We have ten to twelve birds at a time buzzing around, eating and socializing throughout the day. Watching the progression got me curious, so I set out to learn more about these little creatures, barely the size of my thumb.
 
Most hummingbirds don’t live past their first year of life. About thirty percent of males and forty percent of females will. If they make it past year one, they have surprisingly long lifespans, three to five years for many species and nine to ten years for several others. With a brain the size of a BB, they annually navigate the migration between North and South America, following the same flight paths year after year. Each year they return to the same nesting and feeding locations, often to the same feeders, with succeeding generations of their families in tow.
 
All of which explained the growing numbers and lowered levels of combativeness I observed over time. And that got me thinking about the wonder of God’s creation. The universe we see didn’t arrive by chance. If God invests that level of attention into a hummingbird, what do you think He has in store for us?
 
Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?  –Matthew 6:26 (ESV)