Green Heron (Butorides virescens) ~ Borrowed Gifts

Only the mist is moving over the waters in the early morning hours.  Far away, bugs hum lazily.  The sun is melting away the evening chill.  Shards of silver play along the water surface, the dim sunlight glinting off their scales.  The school of fish moves slowly, deliberately, but twitchingly.  They are a pause-and-play video, ever watching.  Suddenly a flurry of feathers cut through the water.  The fish scatter, all but one, twitching in the beak of the gently bobbing bird.

 Among all the hunting techniques observed in avians, surely the Green Heron ranks as one of the most fascinating.  These herons are the smallest of their family.  Yet what they lack in size they make up for in intelligence.  The Green Heron is a master fisherman.  He scours the landscape for a delicious morsel, a bit of bread or a seed pod, and carries it to the nearest lake.  There the heron stands upon a rock.  He tip-toes down to the water surface and deposits the food.  The heron becomes a green statue.  Its feathers barely move as it breathes.  He never blinks, his eyes are fixed upon the floating bait.  Smaller fish nibble at the food, but still the heron waits.  Even if he hasn’t eaten in days, he will not consume the morsel, nor will he eat the smaller fish.  He waits, positioning and repositioning his bait, until a larger fish comes.  Then he snatches it up and feasts like a king.

Using one thing as a tool to get something else is something few animals do.  Only birds, chimpanzees, and humans exhibit “spontaneous metatool use” i.e. using one tool to get another.[1]  New Caledonian Crows, for instance, might use a smaller stick to reach a larger stick, then use that larger stick to pluck out food from a tight crevasse.  Others may use chisels to fashion a pointed lance for spearing prey.

i sometimes feel gypped.  It appears that time, talents, or relationships have been wasted.  One time in particular was during my year at Oxford.  The 200+ Nigerian girls were kidnapped by Boko Haram that spring in 2014.  i had a list of their names on my bedroom wall, and every morning i’d write 5 of the names on my hand so I could remember to pray for them by name throughout the day.  i prayed faithfully that every single girl would be recovered.  Months went by, and only more were taken.  Not one was found.  My heart broke.  i could not help but be angry at God for not answering my prayer.  Why had i spent so many hours on my knees praying?!  For what purpose?  Didn't He care about those girls?

Two days ago i heard the news about the Nigerian girl who was found.  All at once i realized that God had answered those countless hours of prayer—My prayers for the Nigerian girls were not wasted.  It was more than worth it to have one girl returned. 

We must not be overly covetous of everything we have, but must trust that the Lord can use what He has given us in ways we did not expect.  We must not gobble up that dainty morsel, but must release it to the waters and trust that God is drawing up mysterious things from the deep.







[1] Ackerman, J., & Burgoyne, J. (2016). The genius of birds.  Page 72

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