Wonderfully Made
just for kids
Wonderfully Made Spring is here! Plants are sprouting and birds are busy building nests. Soon these birds will be laying eggs and keeping them warm as they wait for the baby birds to hatch. Maybe you have been lucky enough to see a nest full of eggs or found an empty
Shell
piece of eggshell on the ground. Isn’t it amazing that there was a bird inside of that tiny little egg? Eggs are very special. They are designed to be perfect for their purpose.
baby bird as it grows. The eggshell protects the also lets the baby bird It keeps germs out but ough to suppor t the breathe. It is strong en licate enough for the parent sitting on it but de when it’s time to hatch. baby bird to break out ht in every way. The eggshell is just rig t shapes and sizes. Eggs come in differen breakfast are an oval The eggs you eat for are sort of pointy and shape, but some eggs almost round. And pear-shaped. Others are tball! some look a bit like a foo ferent colors too. dif of Eggs come in lots , there are blue eggs Besides white and brown sty ones, and creamand greenish ones, ru are plain; others have colored eggs too. Some speckles. The patterns squiggles or blotches or scrawl, black cap, blots on eggs have names like and pepper pot.
Yolk The egg yolk is the yellow ball in the middle of the egg. It is held in place by stringy things called chalaza e. They let the yolk rotate when the egg is turned. This keeps the gro wing baby bird always on the top of the yolk where it is closest to the warmth of its parent. It can also get the air it needs more easily. The yolk is full of nutrients the baby bird needs to grow. In different types of birds, the yolk makes up more or less of the egg. Some birds are helpless when the y hatch. Their eyes are closed, and they don’t have feathers. They nee d their parents for everything. These birds have eggs with smaller yolk s. Other birds hatch with their eye s open and with feathers. The eggs they hatch from have bigger yolks.
Egg White
called albuThe egg white is also it only turns men. It is actually clear— like a cushion white if it is cooked. It is d the growsurrounding the yolk an lot s of ot he r ing ba by bird. It ha s es water and important jobs. It provid d and keeps proteins for the baby bir ything gets it safe from germs. If an s to cross the through the shell, it ha bird. And it is albumen to get to the e albumen not a friendly place. Th rms can use. doesn’t have any food ge stroying proIt is also full of germ-de nk work best teins, which scientists thi e egg is just when the egg is warm. Th fight germs the right temperature to on it! when a parent bird sits
30 THE BANNER | April 2017 | thebanner.org
rs Eggshell Plante break-
e soil into each Carefully put som in r fo gs eg and gently tuck Next time you have k eggshell half, ea u br Yo lly d. fu un re fo ca ve to u’ fast, ask an adult whatever plants yo ls. el a sh in e rs th te ve an sa pl d ll eggshe the eggs in half an e. can set your id e as us d em th an t s se os d m d of Rinse them out an d saucer on a be an r il fo so e of bl t ta bi ur tle lit yo You’ll also need a them to decorate . em th as er at ch w su , et to some tiny plants Easter. Don’t forg s • hens and chick • thyme • sedum otch moss • Irish moss or Sc can’t find someu • True moss (If yo en , lo ok fo r th in g in th e ga rd under trees moss growing wild n logs.) or on rocks or falle
When an egg hatches, the shell is thinner than it was when it was laid because the chick has used some of the calcium for its skeleton. Eggs must be kept warm for the baby bird to grow and hatch. Most birds keep their eggs warm with their body heat. They transfer the heat to their eggs through a bare patch of skin on their belly, or through their legs, or even their feet! A few birds don’t use body heat to warm their eggs. They bury their eggs in warm volcanic soil or piles of rotting plants that produce heat as they break down. The incubation period is the number of days an egg must be kept warm so that it will hatch. It takes only 11 to 14 days for the American robin to hatch. The royal albatross, a big seabird, takes 80 days to hatch!
Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
Eggs are amazing! Now that you kno w how much care God has put in creating a littl e bird’s egg, look up Psalm 139:14-15. Write you r favorite phrases from these verses in a not ebook or on a notecard. If you like to draw, decorat e the words with colored pencils or markers. The n praise God for how wonderfully God has mad e you!
A hummingbird egg is only 13 x 8 millimeters (0.5 x 0.3 inches). That’s smaller than a mini marshmallow!
Bird Cam!
, visit cams. With a parent’s permission ams/. You’ll allaboutbirds.org/all-c ca me ras an d fin d lot s of live ne st a bird hatch! maybe even get to watch
Illustration by Scott Holladay
Rachel Lancashire is a nursery worker (plants not kids) and freelance writer with an educational background in wildlife. She attends Gilmour Memorial Baptist Church in Selwyn, Ont.
thebanner.org | April 2017 | THE BANNER 31
Wonderfully Made Spring is here! Plants are sprouting and birds are busy building nests. Soon these birds will be laying eggs and keeping them warm as they wait for the baby birds to hatch. Maybe you have been lucky enough to see a nest full of eggs or found an empty
Shell
piece of eggshell on the ground. Isn’t it amazing that there was a bird inside of that tiny little egg? Eggs are very special. They are designed to be perfect for their purpose.
baby bird as it grows. The eggshell protects the also lets the baby bird It keeps germs out but ough to suppor t the breathe. It is strong en licate enough for the parent sitting on it but de when it’s time to hatch. baby bird to break out ht in every way. The eggshell is just rig t shapes and sizes. Eggs come in differen breakfast are an oval The eggs you eat for are sort of pointy and shape, but some eggs almost round. And pear-shaped. Others are tball! some look a bit like a foo ferent colors too. dif of Eggs come in lots , there are blue eggs Besides white and brown sty ones, and creamand greenish ones, ru are plain; others have colored eggs too. Some speckles. The patterns squiggles or blotches or scrawl, black cap, blots on eggs have names like and pepper pot.
Yolk The egg yolk is the yellow ball in the middle of the egg. It is held in place by stringy things called chalaza e. They let the yolk rotate when the egg is turned. This keeps the gro wing baby bird always on the top of the yolk where it is closest to the warmth of its parent. It can also get the air it needs more easily. The yolk is full of nutrients the baby bird needs to grow. In different types of birds, the yolk makes up more or less of the egg. Some birds are helpless when the y hatch. Their eyes are closed, and they don’t have feathers. They nee d their parents for everything. These birds have eggs with smaller yolk s. Other birds hatch with their eye s open and with feathers. The eggs they hatch from have bigger yolks.
Egg White
called albuThe egg white is also it only turns men. It is actually clear— like a cushion white if it is cooked. It is d the growsurrounding the yolk an lot s of ot he r ing ba by bird. It ha s es water and important jobs. It provid d and keeps proteins for the baby bir ything gets it safe from germs. If an s to cross the through the shell, it ha bird. And it is albumen to get to the e albumen not a friendly place. Th rms can use. doesn’t have any food ge stroying proIt is also full of germ-de nk work best teins, which scientists thi e egg is just when the egg is warm. Th fight germs the right temperature to on it! when a parent bird sits
30 THE BANNER | April 2017 | thebanner.org
rs Eggshell Plante break-
e soil into each Carefully put som in r fo gs eg and gently tuck Next time you have k eggshell half, ea u br Yo lly d. fu un re fo ca ve to u’ fast, ask an adult whatever plants yo ls. el a sh in e rs th te ve an sa pl d ll eggshe the eggs in half an e. can set your id e as us d em th an t s se os d m d of Rinse them out an d saucer on a be an r il fo so e of bl t ta bi ur tle lit yo You’ll also need a them to decorate . em th as er at ch w su , et to some tiny plants Easter. Don’t forg s • hens and chick • thyme • sedum otch moss • Irish moss or Sc can’t find someu • True moss (If yo en , lo ok fo r th in g in th e ga rd under trees moss growing wild n logs.) or on rocks or falle
When an egg hatches, the shell is thinner than it was when it was laid because the chick has used some of the calcium for its skeleton. Eggs must be kept warm for the baby bird to grow and hatch. Most birds keep their eggs warm with their body heat. They transfer the heat to their eggs through a bare patch of skin on their belly, or through their legs, or even their feet! A few birds don’t use body heat to warm their eggs. They bury their eggs in warm volcanic soil or piles of rotting plants that produce heat as they break down. The incubation period is the number of days an egg must be kept warm so that it will hatch. It takes only 11 to 14 days for the American robin to hatch. The royal albatross, a big seabird, takes 80 days to hatch!
Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
Eggs are amazing! Now that you kno w how much care God has put in creating a littl e bird’s egg, look up Psalm 139:14-15. Write you r favorite phrases from these verses in a not ebook or on a notecard. If you like to draw, decorat e the words with colored pencils or markers. The n praise God for how wonderfully God has mad e you!
A hummingbird egg is only 13 x 8 millimeters (0.5 x 0.3 inches). That’s smaller than a mini marshmallow!
Bird Cam!
, visit cams. With a parent’s permission ams/. You’ll allaboutbirds.org/all-c ca me ras an d fin d lot s of live ne st a bird hatch! maybe even get to watch
Illustration by Scott Holladay
Rachel Lancashire is a nursery worker (plants not kids) and freelance writer with an educational background in wildlife. She attends Gilmour Memorial Baptist Church in Selwyn, Ont.
thebanner.org | April 2017 | THE BANNER 31
