Most birds look about the same, but some deserve more than just a quick look because of unusual features of their heads. A few are so unusual that we might wonder why God made them that way.
One of these is the hoatzin of Venezuela. This bird, about the size of a turkey, has a bright blue head with large, black-bordered, bright-red eyes and a large, pointed beak. Its most distinctive feature is a high crown of long feathers from its forehead to the back of its neck. The shorter feathers are pinkish-yellow and the longer ones lean forward above the rest in a scraggly combination of yellow, red and black. Some call it the strangest bird in the world.
The crowned crane of South Africa holds its head very high atop a long neck. Beneath its head a large, blood-red wattle (a hanging flap of flesh) drapes across its neck to meet black whiskers that reach on up to its long pointed beak. This all finally forms a big cap of black over its head. It also has a wide, tall crown of thin black-tipped lavender feathers reaching high above its colorful head. It is really a spectacular sight!
Another bird with an unusual head is the king vulture of southern Mexico. Its head is bright red on top, down to the back of its neck. It has large white eyes and black pupils framed in the same bright red. In addition, a strange growth, like a long, thin arm with long, warty fingers, stretches across the back of its head, pressing down on black hairs on the sides and front of its head to the base of the beak. The beak is covered with a shapeless mass of bright orange, bulgy, warty flesh.
Another unusual head belongs to the ocellated turkey of Mexico. Its tall, sky-blue head is held upright and has large, dark eyes set in wide collars of bright red. It has a short, white and yellow beak with a blue, rope-like wattle with red tips draped over it. Even more unusual is a large number of yellow and red, marble-sized lumps that seem to have been stuck on various parts of its head and neck. Most of these lumps are in a big cluster at the very peak of the high dome of its head.
We might ask the question, Did the Creator have a reason for giving these birds such unusual heads? Yes, I’m sure He did. Many things in His creation that may seem strange to us demonstrate His creative power and remind us that He took pleasure in what He created. The Bible verse at the beginning tells us this.
ML-04/24/2005
APRIL 24, 2005