Kid Zone Articles
Exceptions to the "Rule"
Used by permission, Alpha Omega Institute
And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
Charles Darwin has been called the father of modem evolution. However,
Mr Darwin did not invent the idea of evolution since it was
around a long time before Darwin. He only made it popular by
applying an idea that was also around at the same time to explain
how he thought evolution works without God. This idea was called
"natural selection" (sometimes known as the survival of the fittest) . The weak would die out and the strong would survive.
[ Darwin speculated that ] After millions of years, each generation would change gradually until the animals were completely different from how they began. He guessed that over long periods of time, different kinds of animals will evolve special adaptations to their environment. In other words, animals would change to better live in their surroundings. It all might sound very good in theory (idea) but the world has many exceptions to what evolution says. The Frigate bird is just one of those exceptions.
Frigate birds are tropical sea birds, yet their feathers are not suited for aquatic (water) life. The feathers of the Frigate bird are not waterproof, so they can not swim or dive for their food. If they did, their feathers would become waterlogged, and they couldn’t fly. Frigates have very small feet and legs, making them almost helpless on land and sea. If the Frigate did land in the water they would not be able to paddle very far because their feet are only partially webbed.
However, the Frigate is magnificently created to fly. It has very long, slender, pointed wings. Some have been measured up to 7 feet 6 inches (2.3 m). For its size, it has the greatest wingspan of all the birds. Its long forked tail acts like a rudder. By closing and opening their tails like a fan they can skillfully maneuver in the air. In order to fly they need a current of air under their wings. If the Frigate landed on the water, its wings would beat uselessly on the water.
The wings of the Frigate bird were designed to soar and fly. Even on land, those long wings can get in the way, so Frigates nest in tall trees or rocky crags. From their nest, they can throw themselves into the wind, where they can soar for hours at a time.
Another name for the Frigate bird is the Man-O’War. It gets this name because of its pushy nature. It chases tems and other fishing birds and pesters them until they drop or disgorge fish they have caught. Then the Man-O’-War deftly seizes the falling fish in mid-air. Sometimes it swoops low enough to snatch baby tems from the ground or fish from the surface of the water. It does this without ever landing on the sea. When "flying" fish jump out of the water, they are often caught by Frigates in mid-air!
When we look at the Frigate bird, we see a bird that is "evolutionarily" poorly adapted to sea life, especially when we compare him with other sea birds. Yet by special created design, they are able to catch and eat fish without getting their feathers or even their feet wet! Natural selection does not give us new animals, but weeds out the imperfect mutations, and leaves the best of what God created!