The argument about creation and evolution goes on-and-on-and-on. Many sources tell us that the in­spiration that led Darwin to conclude that all living things progressed through their evolutionary development from protein molecules in primordial soup to man was the changes he saw in finches on the Galapagos Islands. "Darwin's finches", as they are called today, showed structural modifications when they radiated from one island to another. The finches on different islands do have definite dif­ferences that are probably due to gene mutations; he started with birds, however, and ended with birds. If you want to swallow the whole theory of evolution as it comes to us today you must start with a lizard before you get a bird to evolve.

A close look at birds shows us their very special­ized adaptations for living the life that they do in our world. No other group of animals illustrates so perfectly the wisdom of a Creator who equipped the birds with the peculiar characteristics they need to survive. Note the changes that had to occur hap­hazardly to make a bird from a lizard and you will understand why the alleged years of evolutionary development must be numbered in the billions.

One of the first "facts" that the ornithologist reads in nearly every science book is that scales of lizards evolved into feathers. As I write this I have in my hand a primary flight feather from the right wing of an eagle; a former student of mine brought it to me from Alaska. The feather is 20.75 inches from base to tip and is 2.875 inches wide at its broadest point. Along most of the central shaft are projec­tions called barbs; these make up the main part of the vane of the feather. The barbs have barbules on them, some pointing toward the tip of the feather, others toward the base. The barbules directed toward the tip are equipped with tiny hooks that cling to the minute flanges of those that point to the base. If the hooks are disengaged from the flanges the bird moves his bill along the shaft to preen his finery; you can do the same with your fingers. Each large feather of a crane has millions of these parts described. What a structure! What an incredible evolutionary development this is from the simple scale of an ancestral lizard!! The futile search goes on for the structure that is half scale, half feather; how longingly the evolutionist yearns to find such a structure!

Buoyancy, rapid digestion of food, and boundless supplies of oxygen are absolute necessities for a bird to live comfortably. The evolutionist tells us that the hollow bones of birds which are extremely light must have evolved from the solid bones of the lizard family. In several areas of the body the bones are fused so that the number of bones in the wrist, ankle, backbone, and hand is greatly reduced. Sprouting from the breastbone is a special projec­tion called the keel and to this structure the power­ful flight muscles are attached. Not one reptile has the beginning of a keel.

The hyperactive life of a bird requires plenty of calories and oxygen to maintain a normal body temperature of 107 to 110 degrees Fahrenheit. The oxygen is delivered to all parts of the body by red corpuscles that are superefficient oxygen carriers — better than those of humans. While the heart of a lizard has just 3 chambers so that the blood pumped to the body is not pure, birds have a 4 chambered heart like ours so that the blood pumped from one of the lower chambers is absolutely pure when it is shipped to the body.

Breathing brings oxygen into the body. We have lungs in which oxygen is picked up by the blood; lizards have lungs of the same type. Birds have more than lungs; attached to the lungs are 9 air sacs that spread even to the hollow bones. This provides abundant areas for oxygen exchange. The move­ment of air through the lungs and air sacs is not completely understood by any scientist; most of the researchers agree, however, that no other animal known to man has such an efficient respiratory system.

Weight reducing adaptations of birds include much more than hollow and fused bones. The excretory system has no urinary bladder and kidney wastes are in the form of a paste-like substance that enters the large intestine to be eliminated. Nearly all female birds have only one ovary; the right ovary does not develop. The sex organs of both males and females enlarge only in the breeding season. During all the other months of the year the gonads are so tiny that they can hardly be found in some species.

Food consumed by birds is usually very high in calories so we might say that they know how to choose high octane fuel to keep their motors run­ning. Turkeys and many of the larger birds gain one pound of weight after consuming 3 pounds of food; most mammals must ingest and digest 10 pounds of food to gain one pound. Since the flame of life burns so rapidly in birds they must feed from dawn to dusk and no human eats like a bird. Special diges­tive structures help the bird to digest food rapidly; one researcher reported that a cedar waxwing took only 20 minutes to completely digest food that was ingested.

It is extremely difficult for me to understand how all of these anatomical and physiological marvels could have developed by random chance in nature. The theory of evolution tells us that birds evolved from reptiles and often cites Archeopteryx as an ex­ample of such development. But Archeopteryx, the fossil uncovered in Bavaria, is not such a missing link. One of the most highly regarded textbooks on ornithology begins the story of Archeopteryx by calling it a flying reptile, but concludes the tale by saying the fossil is indisputably a bird. The ancient animal had some reptilian features but the hollow bones, the short body, and the light build make it unmistakably a bird.

We cannot prove empirically (by experiment or observation) that Creation is a fact and neither can the proponents of evolution prove empirically that their theory is a fact. No man was there to observe these beginnings.

Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.Hebrews 11:3

Our study of the amazing world of birds helps us to believe in Crea­tion and the Creator rather than to believe that ran­dom chance gave these creatures their marvelous at­tributes.