MARVEL OF GOD'S
CREATION #2

The
Incubator Bird

The Megapode or "incubator bird" of Australia is unique
among birds. This three to four pound bird resembles a chicken or a
small turkey. Some native Australians call it the brush
turkey.

The incubator birds are unlike all other birds. So, if
they evolved, from what did they evolve? Or what are they evolving into?
A recent Scientific American article[1]
offers precious little by way of an evolutionary explanation for the
origins of this strange bird.

All birds use body heat to incubate their eggs except the
incubator bird.

"Instead, they pile up great
heaps of debris which serve as incubators; the warmth of the fermenting
compost does the work. In one species, the scrub fowl, a mound 20 feet
high and 50 feet wide has been reported." [2]

Instead of using its own body heat to incubate its eggs
(as does the chicken who sits on her eggs), the incubator bird uses
fermentation heat or "...some use solar heat and others the heat
produced by volcanic action." [3]

A bird that uses volcanic heat or the warmth of fermenting
plant life to hatch its eggs: Incredible! If there are any creatures
that could not possibly evolve, the Australian incubator bird joins the
bombardier beetle as such a creature.

The female is responsible for two activities. First, she
must test the nest to be sure it is adequate for incubating her eggs.
What explanation can evolution offer for the ability of the hen to
evaluate the suitability of a nest that may be dug three feet into the
ground and extend 10 or more feet above ground and up to 50 feet across?
And what would motivate a little three and one-half pound male bird to
get busy constructing monstrous nest number two, should the hen reject
his first effort?

After accepting the nest, the second responsibility of the
female is performed. She lays 20 to 35 eggs at the rate of one egg every
three days for up to seven months. "...As many as 16 eggs can exist in a
normal mound at any one time." [4] Each
egg weighs about a half a pound and is as large as an ostrich egg. That
is a tremendous amount of work for a three to four pound hen. No wonder
that upon completion of her laying task, she leaves the nest, never to
return. She takes no part in the incubation and raising of her chicks.
This is not your normal evolutionary way!

At this point the male begins to perform his God-given job
of managing the incubation of the deeply buried eggs. For incubator bird
chicks to survive they demand a precise temperature of 91°F. Yes, exactly 91°F. If the male bird wants the chicks
to survive, he will not let the temperature vary more then one degree on
either side of 91°F! How does
the daddy bird maintain a consistent temperature of 91°F in a mound of decaying plants and
dirt?

Scientists differ on the mechanism they think the bird
uses to measure the temperature. Some think the bird's thermometer is in
its beak. Others believe the tongue can distinguish 91°F and a few tenths of a percent
above and below 91°F.

Here is the point: How could a bird evolve the ability to
precisely measure temperatures with its beak or tongue? Evolution says
nothing is evolved until it is needed. How would the incubator bird know
it needed the ability to keep its eggs at 91°F? The chicks would get too hot or
too cold and die before he figured it out. And dead creatures do not
evolve into higher forms.

You may be asking, "Well, how does this bird keep those
eggs at 91°F?" The male digs
down into the nest and checks the temperature. On hot days, he may pile
extra sand on top of the nest to shield it from the sun. He may even
rearrange the entire pile of rotting leaves and grasses several times a
day.

On cooler days, the male megapodes (which means big feet)
will push material off the top of the nest to permit more sunlight to
penetrate the decaying organic material. Or, to keep the humidity at
99.5% around the eggs, he may dig conical holes toward the eggs to get
more moisture deeper into the nest. Keeping temperature and humidity
just right is a big job. Concerning the precision needed for incubation
temperature maintenance, Seymour writes:

"This process is very
precise: one centimeter of fresh material added to the mound can
increase core temperature about 1½°C." [5]

Not only must the eggs be kept at 91°F and 99.5% humidity, but the chick
must get enough air to breathe. The father provides the fresh air for
the chicks as he daily digs down to the eggs. But the chick must get the
air inside the shell. The means to get air inside the shell was provided
by the hen as she formed the shell. It has thousands of tiny holes
(called pores) in it. These holes in the thick shell are shaped like
conical ice cream cones with the narrowest part of the cone toward the
chick. As the chick grows it cannot get enough air through the bottom of
the cone so it begins to remove the inside layer of the shell. As it
thins out the shell the holes get bigger (moving up the cone) and the
chick can get more air. Amazing!

The way the chicks hatch is also unique among birds.
Unlike other birds, they are ready to fly with full feathers as soon as
they break out of the egg. Once they hatch, it takes up to three days
for them to dig their way up out of the mound. How do they know they
must dig their way out or else they die? They have not been instructed
by either parent. Even so, they lie on their backs and dig up until they
break out. Clearly, the God of the Bible is involved with all aspects
of His creation!

Once the chicks dig out of the nest, they are on their
own. They are not fed or cared for by either parent. When they are
mature, the male will build a huge nest as an incubator for his mate's
eggs. He will build this huge, precise mound without any instruction
from his parents. This is not learned behavior.! How does the brush
turkey know the importance of 91°F?

Credentialed men and women have the audacity to say that
this bird is the product of the impersonal plus time plus chance. But
truly, how could the incubator bird even exist? Only if the God of the
Bible lives and is involved with His creatures.

[1] Roger S. Seymour,
"The Brush Turkey," Scientific
American, Vol. 265, No. 6, December, 1991, pp.
108-114.

[2] Roger Tory Petersen,
Life Nature Library: The
Birds (New York: Time-Life Books, 1973), p.
140.

[3] The New Encyclopedia
Britannica, Vol. 7 (Chicago:
University of Chicago, 1990 edition), p. 1011.

[4] Ibid., Roger
Seymour, p. 109.

[5] Ibid., Roger
Seymour, p. 110.

TOP    NEXT
CHAPTER      PREVIOUS
CHAPTER     TABLE
OF CONTENTS

TOP OF page

SITE
MAP * SEARCH * HOME
*  INDEX

FAVORITE LINKS *
SPECIAL BOOK OFFERS

E-MAIL- COMMENTS

HARVESTIME BOOKS

PO. BOX 300

ALTAMONT TN. 37301