Scientific research has revealed that throughout
the living world, communication is just as important as it is to human
beings. Countless living things lack the capacity for human speech, yet
they employ entirely different methods in order to communicate with each
other—and even with other species. Some of the most dramatic examples
of this is displayed by birds. The astonishing behavior and ability to
communicate that birds exhibit also totally invalidates the claims of
the theory of evolution.
All forms of life on Earth have been created with miraculous
properties and astonishing abilities. The examination of just one single
species is enough to reveal hundreds of proofs of God’s magnificent
creation.
In one verse of the Qur’an, Allah reveals that:
There is no creature crawling on the earth or flying
creature, flying on its wings, who are not communities just like yourselves—We
have not omitted anything from the Book—then they will be gathered
to their Lord. (Qur’an, 6: 38)
The birds to which this verse draws our attention notice
are one of the living communities that we need to examine and reflect
upon.
There are roughly some 10,000 species of bird in the world,
each of which possesses its own miraculous features. Wherever you may
live, you can see a great number of these feathered creatures and can
observe different and extraordinary properties in each and every one.
With their attractive appearances, flawless flight mechanisms, expertise
on the routes and timing of migrations, ability to build nests and altruistic
behavior toward their young and to one another, birds possess countless
proofs of the fact of creation. Their ability to communicate is another
of these.
Birds' Sense of Hearing
For birds to display their talents in communicating by sound, song—and
in the case of some birds, words— they require excellent hearing.
At critical times in their lives, their sense of hearing becomes particularly
important. Experiments have shown that in order for birds to learn the
distinctive song of their own species, they need an auditory feedback
system. Thanks to this system, young birds learn to compare the sounds
they produce themselves with the patterns of a song they have memorized.
If they were deaf, it wouldn't normally be possible for them to sing recognizable
songs. (1)
Birds' ears are well equipped for hearing, but they hear in a different
way from us. For them to recognize a tune, they have to hear it in always
the same octave (a series of seven notes), whereas we humans can recognize
a tune even if we hear it in a different octave. Birds cannot, but can
instead recognize timbre—a fundamental note combined with
harmonies. The ability to recognize timbre and harmonic variations lets
birds hear and reply to many diverse sounds, and sometimes even reproduce
them.
Birds can also hear shorter notes than we can. Humans process sounds
in bytes in about 1/20th of a second (2), whereas
birds can distinguish these sounds in 1/200th of a second (3).
This means that birds are superior at differentiating sounds that arrive
in very rapid succession.(4) In other words, a bird's
capacity to perceive sound is approximately ten times greater than ours;
and in every note heard by a human, it can hear ten.(5)
Moreover, some birds are also able to hear lower-frequency sounds than
we are. Their hearing sensitivity is so finely tuned that they can even
tell the difference between pieces by such famous composers as Bach and
Stravinsky.
Birds' extremely sensitive hearing functions perfectly. Clearly, each
of this sense's components is created by special design, for if any one
failed to work properly, the bird would not be able to hear any sounds
at all. This point also disproves the theory that hearing evolved or emerged
gradually, as a result of coincidental influences.
Communication and Signaling in Birds
Birds produce meaningful communications by their facial expressions,
beak movements, feather ruffling, elongating their necks, crouching, bouncing,
and flapping their wings. Although each species has its own body language,
many different species interpret movements in the same way. For example,
various species interpret an upward thrust of the beak as expressing the
intention to fly, and the lowering of the breast as a warning of danger.
Also, several species perceive raising the tail feathers as a threat,
or displaying bright colors atop of the head as a declaration of the intent
to attack. Via facial expression, birds can convey a variety of messages
to those around them-negative feelings such as dislike and resentment,
as well as positive ones like pleasure, enthusiasm and curiosity. (6)
Bird’s Facial Expressions
Birds produce different facial expressions by movements of the beak,
or by positioning the feathers above the beak, on the chin, or atop the
head. In some species, the feathers above the eye can also move independently.
Moreover, many species make a display by opening their beaks. For example,
the tawny frogmouth opens its beak to reveal its large, bright green oral
cavity, emphasizing the size of its beak and making it appear more intimidating.
Some other species open their beaks as a form of threatening behavior,
usually silently, but sometimes enhance the performance with hissing or
loud breathing. (7)
Besides communicating by means of body language, birds produce a great
variety of sounds to communicate with other members of their flock, neighbors,
or family members. These range from short, simple calls to songs that
are surprisingly long and complex. Sometimes birds such as the green woodpecker
use different instruments or, like the American woodpecker, use special
feathers to produce sound.
Birds also communicate through scents, although since their sense of
smell is poor, their communication is based mainly on sound and sight.
At times of poor visibility, as at night or in dense foliage, sound is
most advantageous, and is also the ideal method for long-distance communication.
If conditions are right, birdsong can be heard for up to a few kilometers.
In addition to song, birds also have conceptualization and communication
skills. In certain circumstances, they demonstrate talents equivalent
to those of children of primary-school age, learning series of words and
other means of human communication through social interaction. When alone,
these parrots play vocalization games and when in the company of people,
they join vocalizations together to produce new assemblages from existing
sequences of speech. God, the Creator of everything on Earth and in the
skies, equips them with the talents and characteristics that set them
apart. Accordingly, our praises for the supreme beauty of our environment
is praise that belongs to God.
The Language of Calls and Songs
To call to one another, birds produce sounds of extremely high frequency
and strength. Only a few species such as pelicans, storks, and certain
vultures are mute and have no call. The acoustic calls used by birds amongst
themselves form a language of sorts. Their songs, which are longer and
generally related to courtship, consist of a series of notes and usually
contain melodies.
Birdsong is usually heard in spring, whereas the calls, much simpler than
songs, are used by both sexes and heard throughout the year. Birdcalls
allow swift communication via simple messages without a great expenditure
of energy. (8) These calls’ main functions
can be listed as follows:
- To establish a bird’s species
- To indicate its bird's gender
- To reveal its location
- To demarcate and defend its territory
- To announce and advertise a source of food
- To let young birds recognize their own parents
- To keep the flock together when traveling
- To warn of the presence of an enemy
- To intimidate an enemy
- For courtship
To mark the changeover of responsibility for nesting duties such as
incubating or feeding
To practice and perfect their songs
Bird Sounds Are Not Haphazard
Usually, birdsong is not composed of randomly produced sounds. Songs
are exceptionally diverse melodies of specific meaning, sung for a purpose,
and are much more complex than the calls used for signaling. They are
generally used by males to advertise and defend a territory, or in courtship.
It is also believed that songs serve a social function. When a pair is
building their nest, they also establish communication by song. Experiments
on caged birds have also demonstrated that birds find it easier to learn
songs if another bird is present, but out of sight, in another cage. (9)
Male and female songbirds have different brain structures, particularly
in the regions related to sound production. With many songbird species,
the males can sing, but the females cannot. The males use "song"
to call their mates or designate a tree, pole, or electrical cable as
a place to perch. Each species sings a song with its own characteristics,
but any given species' songs display variations according to age, sex,
particular time of year, and geographical location-appropriate for the
environment in which they live. For example, birds that live in meadows
use "songs of flight." Similarly, ones that live in the dense
foliage of rain forests or reed thickets have loud voices to compensate
for reduced visibility.
God’s Miracle of Inspiration
As we have explained, birds employ the most suitable methods of communication
for their habitats and objectives. There is no question of every bird
being able to know which song it should sing under which circumstances,
or to calculate on its own the meaning and purpose of the song it will
sing. According to the Darwinist way of thinking, however, all the birds
and other living creatures that we see around us, , all the abilities
that they exhibit and all the beauty that they display, are the products
of blind chance. Yet obviously, the consciousness and design that pervade
life and living things at every moment cannot be explained in terms of
a series of mere coincidences.
Living things devoid of reason and judgment can exhibit such behavior
because such intelligence and consideration of the future are inspired
in them by God. God creates every living thing with the characteristics
it requires and inspires its appropriately intelligent behavior. All living
things perform only those functions that God inspires in them, serving
as a means whereby we are able to witness His might. In one verse of the
Qur’an, God reveals:
Do you not see that everyone in the heavens and
Earth glorifies God, as do the birds with their outspread wings? Each
one knows its prayer and glorification. God knows what they do. (Qur’an,
24:41)
References:
1- http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/bionb424/students/mdr17/neurophysiology.htm
2- http://www.earthlife.net/birds/hearing.html
3- http://www.earthlife.net/birds/hearing.html
4- Theodore Xenophon Barber, Ph. d., The Human Nature of Birds, USA, 1993,
p. 36.
5- Ibid., p. 37.
6- Ibid., , p. 34.
7- Lesley J. Rogers & Gisela Kaplan, Songs, Roars and Rituals: Communication
In Birds, Mammals and Other Animals, USA, 2000, pp. 78-79.
8- http://whalonlab.msu.edu/Student_ Webpages/Bird_song/page
9- http://whalonlab.msu.edu/Student_ Webpages/Bird_song/page
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