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Why are River Birds in a Bible-based Website?

Black-Crowned Night Heron

​​​​​​Introduction 

For two reasons which will have their own pages at a later date. 

● One reason is because birds are frequently cited in the Bible.  In fact birds and specific species are mentioned over 300 times in the Bible. (Google Search)

● Birds are considered to be sentinel species. They are animals "used to detect risks to humans by providing advance warning of a danger." (Wikipedia) 

In the Bible, birds were often used in various ways in addition to food.  One common usage was as messengers. (Genesis 8:7) In fact it was a raven, not a dove, that Noah first sent out from the ark to see if the flood waters had receded from the earth. Despite the fact a raven was later deemed unclean and ineligible to be eaten. (Leviticus 11)  ​

The second reason is because ever since moving to the river 25 years ago, while all the birds are interesting, having never lived near water before the river birds caught my eye.  The same time I was learning more about the Bible in organized studies, (even hosting a Summer Bible study in our backyard for 7 years,) I also began photographing, researching and writing about the birds. Would God use birds today to help people living today, I wondered?  

 Then my husband told me a story about his mom's pet canary. It sang gloriously. But something frightening happened and the canary never sang again.  While his parents were safe, the canary gave up her song. After he told me the story of his mom's little canary, I remembered the old phrase: canaries in the coal mine.  How many lives in a coal mine did little canaries save, I wondered? ​

Then one day we read about the massive numbers of eagles and other birds that were lost due to wind turbines. It saddened both of us. We're blessed to see eagles here often. When one flies by, you stop everything to watch it. They have a unique presence not seen in other birds.  They're also masters of the air, so I wondered: why weren't they able to avoid hitting the wind turbines? 

Then we read about what happened in Texas' deep freeze and other places. 

Were the eagles our early bird warning of impending disaster, like the canaries in the coal mine were to miners of old?  I wondered? 

God often used birds as messengers in the Bible, as has humankind. (Before telegraphs there were pigeons.) Why wouldn't God still be using them today? Can you imagine how many lives and financial loss could have been saved if someone had noticed how badly they were being chewing up, and questioned it? 

A Gardener has much time to ponder such things when on her knees and working with old hands in God's dirt. That's why you'll always see me with a notebook and cell phone nearby when gardening- as I was trained to do decades ago.

Now it is primarily gardening season. Will share updates on our local River Birds, when possible. Although my initial "digging" into such questions has been interesting, for accuracy's sake, much more research is needed. Perhaps my writing questions on this topic will encourage someone else to do a little researching. If you've the inclination and time, dig. If the dirt seems too tough, dig harder. It will make your hands, spine, mind and soul strong. ​

F.Y.I. Wood Duck ducklings are now on the river! We first spotted them here on  June 6, 2026, at 4:24 pm.

​The next featured River Bird is the Black-Crowned Night Heron.  Their local nesting trees' leaves are full. We are anxiously waiting to see if they return, but it will be the middle of the night so we won't see them until they begin to squawk in the trees as night. It's usually much later in the Summer before they make their night flights at dusk.

This bird's relative disappearance in the state of Illinois was noticed by the experts due to the birds' exit from a major rookery a little southeast  of here some years ago. But a family's been here my 25 years, and since husband first moved in, many years before that.  This seems not unusual, but logical to us. People are city folks, suburban or country folks- why not birds? There are likely many smaller families gathered all along Illinois' rivers and marshes. There are articles from reliable sources about this bird available at the top of their story page. 

​Until later, Gardener Lori​