Imagine if scientists could build a robotic bird weighing less than one
pound that could fly non-stop more than 7,000 miles. Without ever stopping to oil its wings,
tighten its screws, clean its gears, or recharge its lightweight batteries, this flying machine
weighing less than a stapler could fly all the way from New York to Las Vegas and back to New York.
And this robotic bird need not be controlled remotely because it was programmed ahead of time
to fly precisely from one place to another. With perfect precision, it lands in the intended spot.
Can you imagine such a flying machine? It would take thousands of hours, likely millions of
dollars, and extremely intelligent scientists to design and build such an amazing robotic bird.
To the best of our knowledge, no flying robot has ever accomplished such great feats.
There is, however, a real bird that has. A few years ago, scientists from the U.S.
Geological Survey fitted 16 bar-tailed godwits with satellite transmitters. One of these birds,
dubbed E7, made its way from New Zealand to Alaska over the next three months (flying more than 9,000
miles with one layover on the North Korea-China border). After nearly four months in Alaska,
the godwit began its nonstop flight back to New Zealand. That’s right, this little bird,
which normally weighs less than one pound, flew 7,145 miles in nine days without stopping,
averaging 34.8 miles per hour. Without taking a break to eat, drink, or rest, the godwit flew
the equivalent of making a trip from New York to Las Vegas and back to New York. And that’s not it.
Equally impressive is the godwit’s sense of direction. Every year, millions of people travel
to see the mountains of East Tennessee, the white sandy beaches of Florida, and the giant Redwood
trees of California. Can you imagine how difficult these journeys would be without the help of maps,
signs, or GPS technology? We simply couldn’t go very far and expect to reach our intended
destination without certain navigational aids. Amazingly, without help from a GPS,
a compass, or good ole backseat driver telling it where to go, the godwit flew thousands of
miles without getting lost. It’s 16,500-mile roundtrip journey ended exactly where it began.
Scientists have studied the migration of birds for decades and still can’t adequately explain
the “age-old riddle” of their navigation skills. Their sense of direction is mind-boggling. In his
book Unsolved Mysteries of Science, evolutionist John Malone reported how much progress man has
made over the last few centuries in understanding how birds are able to journey thousands of miles
with pinpoint accuracy. Yet, he concluded his chapter on bird migration with these words:
“Partial explanations abound, but every book or scientific article on bird migration is full of
conditional words and phrases: “It may be…but it also MIGHT not be.” We know more about how
birds might achieve their epic flights around the world, but there are still far more mysteries than
there are explanations. The tiny songbird that reappeared to build its nest in the apple tree
outside your window—and we know from banding that it can indeed be exactly the same bird—has been to
South America and back since you saw it last. How can that be? This is one case where it may be
nicer not to know—simply allow yourself to be swept up by awe and wonder.”
How can a person reasonably conclude that non-intelligence, plus time,
plus chance, plus random mutations equals a one-pound, bar-tailed godwit flying
a perfectly precise flight of 7,145 miles in nine days without stopping for food, water, or rest?
The “awe and wonder” to which John Malone alluded should logically be directed toward
neither mindless evolution nor the birds themselves, but to the “great and awesome
God” Who has done “wondrous works” and “awesome things,” including endowing birds
with the amazing trait we call “instinct.” Truly, it’s not by evolution or man’s wisdom
that a bird “soars, stretching his wings toward the south.” Rather, “the stork in the sky knows
her seasons; and the turtledove and the swift and the thrush observe the time of their migration,”
because the all-knowing, all-powerful Lord God is the Creator of them all.