Why so many birds?

After the birdfeeder post, I began to wonder what we could learn from the birds and the great variety of species.  I realized I needed to know how many birds man has classified (I'll bet there are some species we have never even seen).  So from www.birding.com here are the stats:
"There are over 10,000 species of birds in the world. About 925 have been seen in the U.S. and Canada. About 1,000 have been seen in Europe. By far the largest concentration of bird species are found in South America. Over 3,200 species have been seen there. In Colombia, Bolivia and Peru the species count for each country tops 1,700. Here are some very general figures for the species count for each continent:
3,200 South America
2,900 Asia
2,300 Africa
2,000 North America (from Panama north + Caribbean)
1,700 Australia + surrounding islands
1,000 Europe
65 Antarctica"

Wow!  Mindboggling, isn't it?  I am no orinthologist, but really, 65 species in Antarctica?  I wonder if I have seen 65 species in my life (excluding zoos I guess).  Last week I proposed that it was all about God's creativity, but I wonder if He didn't mean for us to learn from the birds, beyond Matthew 6.
God desires worship from every tongue and tribe and nation, that's the Great Commission and numerous other texts, right?  What does that really look like in heaven or when the new heavens and new earth arrive?  Are we all singing English from the hymnal in our pew?  Ok, there is the house sparrow lending its song, but what about those other 10,000 birds?
If we compare people groups (tongues, tribes, nations) to the bird species...Wow, can you imagine all 10,000 birds singing at the same time?  Overall, I'll bet it is a pretty wonderful sound.  Sure there are a couple of birds whose songs I don't like as much, but I am humble enough to know that when our church sings, the overall sound is pleasant even if I am off key or on the wrong stanza!
The Joshua Project seeks to document and quantify people groups and our progress toward fulfilling the Great Commission.  They list nearly 10,000 (9,978 in 2008) people groups in the world (these are ethno-linguistic and ethnocultural groups regardless of political boundaries).  Striking similarity to the birds, eh?  Of these people groups it is recorded that around 40% have are among the least evangelized and unreached peoples.  That makes some 2.7 billion individuals!
God desires to have every people worshipping Him and singing, and uses so many ways to reach these people.  We put out bird feeders to attract birds to hear their songs, God sacrificed His Son to enable us to draw near.  How do birds know there is a full birdfeeder?  Probably their birdy friends tell them, even across species!  How will these other 4,253 people groups know?  We must go and make disciples!
Looking forward to praising God with you now and always!
Kim

Bird feeders

Ah, the perfect cartoon sunrise with chirping birds and happy music in the background.  Songbirds in the spring are such a wonder to behold.  Robins, doves, chickadees, bluebirds all sing along happily and then a jay or mockingbird swoops through with his cacophanous call.  Stillness prevails for a few moments, then the sweet melody resumes. 
Do you have a birdfeeder still?
In our small group study, Emily Smith remarked that she continues to fill the bird feeder even now in this season of plenty just so she can see the birds and hear them outside her window.  As she spoke of this small extravagance, I was reminded of how much more our Heavenly Father lavishes on us.  I don't mean a prosperity gospel, but gosh we sure are a blessed people!  Why does He do it, even when we don't deserve all these blessings?  He desires to hear us sing!  Just like Emily with the birds, He desires us to draw near to Him and sing for joy (Psalm 100).
Look outside, all you people in the northern hemisphere.  See all that glorious spring variety?  God is a a god of creativity and beauty, creating an intricate world just to enjoy.  While these things are functional, I surely wouldn't call this extravagance a strictly utilitarian system.  Evolutionists may say there is redudency in pants and animals to ensure survival and a continual food source, but I counter that if it is strictly utilitarian, why is there so much variety? Why would there be so much extra, unexpressed DNA that evolved and remained?  My answer? God is a great artist.  He put in lots of extra details so that over time, the fulness of His creation would be expressed.  It is rather like a sculpture that developed a beautiful patina as it ages--it isn't exactly how the artist made it at first, but he knew that it would change and mature into an enduring work of art.  I mean, can you imagine a gleaming and shiny Thinker? Rodin understood how the bronze would change after casting and make the exquisite form into a subtler, individual piece.  The 20+ castings of this all look a little different depending on their atmosphere.  Wow, just think, a sculpture out of a single alloy can change and look vastly different from the same mold and same materials in just over 100 years. What then can we expect from God's creation with so many complex materials--look around!  We can see the vast imagination of God and know that we are made in His image.  We look at the art of the Masters or on our own refrigerators and see remarkable creative expression and know it is only a foretaste of what God has in store!
Why are there 20 different species of birds at Emily's feeder? It is a beautiful sound to hear so many different songs intertwined.  More in a few days about this!