Instinct—Wisdom Programmed Before Birth
TINY BRAINS, COLOSSAL FEATS
“THEY ARE INSTINCTIVELY WISE.”—PROVERBS 30:24
THE UNBELIEVABLE JOURNEY
The little blackpoll warbler is an unlikely candidate to ‘take on’ the evolutionary establishment—but it does. This North American songbird weighs only 20 grams, less than three fourths of an ounce, and is but five inches (13 cm) long. Nevertheless, its migratory feats are colossal.
When fall approaches, it leaves its summer home in Alaska and flies southeast across the North American continent to the Atlantic coast, eating voraciously along the way, because the warbler’s journey has just begun.
Along the coast of New England, the blackpoll warbler waits and watches the weather. It somehow knows exactly what weather it wants—a strong cold front that will pass southeast over the coast and out into the Atlantic.
When the cold front arrives, the little warbler sets off, helped by the favorable winds as it flies southeast—out to sea. The cold front also means that there will probably not be any tropical storms to contend with en route—a wise choice of weather!
Flying southeast puts the tiny bird on course for Africa, hopelessly distant and not its destination. But the blackpoll warbler doesn’t change direction. It flies nonstop past Bermuda, climbing to altitudes of 21,000 feet as it nears Antigua. It is cold and the oxygen is scarce at that altitude. Why is the little warbler up there? Because there it finds the prevailing winds that blow it west to its real destination, South America. After a nonstop flight of over 2,400 miles in more than three days and nights the warbler arrives on another continent, right on target!
Scientists marvel at the feat performed every year by this little bird. How does it know exactly what weather conditions to look for? How does it know just when to change altitude to find the winds that will take it to South America? How does it know to select exactly the proper navigational heading that will allow it to intersect with those winds at the right spot over the ocean? Scientists cannot explain it. Certainly the theory of evolution cannot.
There is, however, a good reason for the blackpoll’s unusual route. Its sea route to South America is much shorter than an “island hopping” trip would be, and there are few predators to worry about. The blackpoll warbler can make the nonstop flight, equivalent to a race horse running consecutive two-minute miles for 80 hours, because of its specially designed metabolism. “If a blackpoll warbler were burning gasoline instead of its reserves of body fat,” notes one scientist, “it could boast of getting 720,000 miles to the gallon!”
TERMITES—AIR-CONDITIONING ENGINEERS
If you have termites, likely you have little sympathy for their physical weaknesses. They tend to be soft and weak, needing carefully controlled temperature and moisture. It would seem that such insects could never survive in the harsh climate of the tropics. Yet they thrive there. How?
The answer is termite architecture and engineering skills. Tropical termite nests are mounds of hardened mud that will make sparks fly from a hatchet. Some Australian termites build a long, narrow, wedge-shaped mound that always points north-south, apparently giving protection against the hot midday sun. Other species build mounds that look like human huts from a distance.
While the outside of a termite mound might be too hot to touch, inside it is a comfortable 85 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius). How is the temperature controlled? Thick walls help, but more is involved. Some termites dig tunnels 130 feet (40 m) into the ground below the nest to obtain water, which they use both to cool the nest by evaporation and to maintain proper humidity, even in the dry, hot desert air! Others build nests with a “cellar” and an “attic.” For air exchange, the outside of the mound contains hollow channels that regulate the temperature and make sure there is plenty of fresh air inside the nest. The termites are observed to be constantly at work on these channels, and by opening and closing them the air conditioning can be adjusted to perfection.
Who taught the termites their skills in architecture and engineering? Blind evolution? Or a discerning Master Designer?
THE DANCING BEES THAT VOTE
Perhaps you have heard of the instinctive feats of honeybees. These small creatures often have many jobs during their short lives, beginning as nurses to the queen and larvae, then graduating to become honeycomb builders, hive guards and janitors. But it is the older bees that have the risky assignment of foraging for nectar and other needed substances, and whose instinctive powers excite the most admiration.
When a foraging bee finds a new source of nectar it returns to the hive to share the good news. This is done by means of a dance. The speed of the dance and its pattern (whether a circle or a figure eight), as well as the amount of abdomen wagging done by the dancing bee, informs other bees of the distance to the nectar source. The direction to the nectar relative to the sun is indicated by the dance as well. “The language of bees seems unbelievable,” admits the book “The Insects,” “yet it has been confirmed by countless experiments.”
When the hive is overcrowded some of the bees follow the old queen to a new home. How do they know where to go? Scouts from the new swarm fly out in all directions. Now, however, they are not looking for flowers. They are looking for hollows in trees, cracks in walls—sites for a new home. Upon return, the scouts dance to indicate the location of these new sites, much as they would dance to indicate the location of a flower. Scouts that have found good sites dance very enthusiastically, sometimes keeping at it for hours, while many other bees are stimulated by the energetic dance to have a look. Scouts that have found less desirable sites don’t dance as long or as enthusiastically, and fewer bees are stimulated to check them out.
Gradually the bees narrow down their choices to a few locations, and finally, to just one, as enthusiastic dances by follow-up scouts attract more and more support for the best site. In effect, the swarm is looking at several prospective sites and voting on the one they like best. The whole process may take five days, after which, with unanimous agreement, the swarm flies off to its new home!
Could accidental mutations and random events produce such marvelous communicative feats and social harmony? Do accidents and chaos produce harmony in any other society?
[Picture on page 16]
THE BLACKPOLL WARBLER—GIFTED OCEAN MIGRANT
[Pictures on page 17]
A TERMITE HOME WITH AIR-CONDITIONED COMFORT
BEES GO TO THE POLLS