A miracle of the living world: Communication and signaling in the language of birds

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.
In one verse of the Qur’an, Allah reveals that:
Birds' Sense of Hearing
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
Bird’s Facial Expressions
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
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:

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
2007-04-18 16:58:48
© 1994 Harun Yahya. www.harunyahya.com - info@harunyahya.com