Creation's Migration

Ever since I was a small boy, I have been amazed by birds. As a youth, I would watch them for hours as they built nests, fed their young and sang from the treetops. What fascinated me the most was that each bird species was so very unique. No species sang the same song as another; every nest was a different shape and size and every egg was a different color.

Although I enjoyed the winter birds and would put different types of food out to attract them, my greatest joy came when the waterfowl and songbirds returned to Wisconsin in the spring. The first robin hopping among the remaining snowdrifts and the first geese honking high overhead always brought the hope and promise that winter was finally coming to an end.

The thing that amazed me the most about the spring and fall migration was that these millions of birds always seemed to know when it was time to come and time to go. But even more amazing than the timing of their migration was their destination.

For example: why does an Arctic tern spend the winter in southern Argentina then fly more than 10,000 miles to the Arctic to nest when it could easily nest further south and save the long trip? How do they find their way back to the precise little postage stamp of land where they were hatched the year before?

How about this one: how do the young of the year find their way back to their precise wintering location in Argentina when they have never been there before? They could follow the ...