If you enjoyed 5 Amazing Animals That Showcase God’s Wild Creativity, you’ll love this second installment of the series, 5 MORE Amazing Animals That Showcase God’s Wild Creativity! You’ll learn about 5 more interesting, colorful, unbelievable creatures that will make you marvel at the wonderful things God has created.
1. Glasswinged Butterfly
Take one look and it’s pretty “clear” how this insect got its name. (See what I did there?) The Glasswinged Butterfly has mostly see-through wings, which makes it very hard for their main predators, birds, to track them through the air. This feature also makes them nearly invisible when resting on a flower or leaf. As if the poor birds didn’t already have a hard enough time, both the adult butterflies and caterpillars store alkaloid compounds in their bodies from their food, making them nauseating to birds. Although these little beauties look incredibly delicate, they can carry up to 40 times their own weight!
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2. Secretary Bird
Look at those gorgeous eyelashes and head feathers! These distant cousins to vultures have an interesting mix of characteristics. Since they spend most of their time on the ground, (secretary birds are one of only two terrestrial birds of prey) they act in some ways like cranes. For instance, secretary birds are often seen hunting in pairs or small family groups, walking through grass in search of their prey. Although they will eat small mammals, reptiles, birds, and insects, they prefer snakes…even venomous ones! They use their wings to distract the snake because a bite to their hollow wing feathers is not dangerous to the bird at all. According to the Toronto Zoo, the secretary bird then “attacks the snake by punching it violently with [its] fisted feet.” We better give this fierce and fancy bird her space.
Also similar to cranes, the secretary birds’ courtship behavior while on the ground consists of the two birds hopping around with their wings outstretched. However, their airborne courtship behavior is like other birds of prey- loud calls, high soaring, and daring dives. Secretary birds are monogamous and are thought to pair for life.
3. Blue Glaucus
See what that person up there is doing? This is not advised, since you can get a nasty sting from a Blue Glaucus. You’re not going to believe this, though…the Blue Glaucus is not venomous. “Huh? What? I thought you said…” Allow me to explain. While the Blue Glaucus is not venomous on its own, it has the ability to “recycle” the stinging cells from its favorite food, the Portuguese man o’ war. It has a protective layer of mucus that allows it to amass quite a hoard of the stinging cells without any harm to itself. A sting to a person can cause extreme pain, nausea, vomiting, and other unpleasant symptoms. It is still possible for it to sting after it dies, so if you see one on the beach, just leave it alone!
4. Flamingo
The flamingo might seem out of place on this list since mostly everyone has seen one, but on the chance that you’ve only seen a flamingo in cartoons or as a yard ornament, I had to include this beautiful and majestic bird. Just look at that unbelievable color! Check out those gorgeous feathers and that graceful neck.
What’s not so graceful is the way flamingos eat. Sometimes they drag their heads upside down along the surface of the water, and sometimes they plunge their head down to the sand underwater. Either way, their head is always upside down when eating, because it’s the way they filter out tiny organisms in the water.
Flamingos are very social. They live in colonies of thousands of birds called (are you ready for this?) a FLAMBOYANCE! They build nests out of mud, shaped like volcanoes, where they raise one chick a year, which will not get its signature pink feathers until about 3 years of age.
What was your favorite creature featured today? Would you like to see a specific animal featured on a blog like this? Let us know below!
5. Green-Headed Tanager
Here we have another example from God’s coloring-book, like the Lilac-Breasted Roller from our last blog. The Green-headed tanager is absolutely adorable, with its bright colors, small size, and sweet eyes, but it’s also a super helpful pollinator! It accomplishes this important work when it reaches into a flower to eat the nectar. They also eat fruit and small insects.
Green-headed Tanagers are found in the Atlantic forest in south-eastern Brazil, far eastern Paraguay, and far north-eastern Argentina. You might think those bright colors would make it hard for the little bird to hide, but it actually camouflages well in the upper canopy of forest trees where the tanager lives.
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