High up in a tree in British Columbia's Shoal Harbour Migratory Bird Sanctuary, six birds are sharing a nest: specifically, two bald eagles, their three eaglets, and a baby red-tailed hawk.<\/p>\n\n
Sure, birds of different species sharing the same nest may sound rather strange, but for those bird aficionados out there, this will sound especially<\/em> strange—because most of the time, bald eagles and red-tailed hawks are enemies, "known to fight each other to the death."<\/p>\n\n Bird experts have been theorizing about how this "unexpected interspecies family" came to be. According to NPR<\/em>, "[T]he two options essentially boil down to a timeless question—which came to the nest first: the chicken (ahem, hawk) or the egg?"<\/p>\n\n The Hancock Wildlife Foundation's David Hancock pointed out that "[t]his little red-tailed chick is sharing the nest with three fast-growing, usually aggressive siblings … Sibling rivalry and fratricide is not uncommon in eagles."<\/p>\n\n For now, however, Sanctuary caretaker Kerry Finley has described the eagles as attentive caregivers: "It's quite something to see the way [the red-tailed hawk] is treated. The parents are quite attentive."<\/p>\n\n Potential Preaching Angles: Our world is fraught with divisions and enemy lines—from the animal kingdom to our churches. But for now, in their own small way, these birds are modeling the kind of upside-down world that we long for, a day in which God "will judge between the nations \/ and will settle disputes for many peoples" (Isa. 2:4).<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[435],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3511,3666,3670,3692,3811,3822,3867,3989,4120,4546,4615,4761,4889,4897,5087,5213,5214],"tax_ctp_topics":[395],"class_list":["post-39799","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-body-of-christ","tax_ctp_tags-conflict","tax_ctp_tags-conformity","tax_ctp_tags-cooperation","tax_ctp_tags-disunity","tax_ctp_tags-division","tax_ctp_tags-enemy","tax_ctp_tags-fighting","tax_ctp_tags-harmony","tax_ctp_tags-news-that-illustrates","tax_ctp_tags-peace","tax_ctp_tags-racism","tax_ctp_tags-schism","tax_ctp_tags-second-coming-of-christ","tax_ctp_tags-strife","tax_ctp_tags-unity","tax_ctp_tags-unity-of-church"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"\n