In The Bird Way, author Jennifer Ackerman describes the keen sensory perception of some birds, far exceeding human capabilities. In relation to the sense of sight, for instance, she describes the anatomical advantages of eagles with their retinal and center eye configurations that give them a telephoto-like ability compared to humans. As many of us probably learned in elementary school, they can see much farther than we can.

I was stunned, however, to read about the color vision of birds. Here’s how Ackerman introduces the topic:

They see hues beyond our imagining. Humans have three types of color-receptive cones in our retinas, blue, green, and red. Birds have a fourth color cone that is sensitive to ultraviolet wavelengths. We are thus “trichromatic,” and most diurnal birds are “tetrachromatic.” With their extra UV cone, birds can distinguish shades of color we can’t tell apart … and detect things invisible to us–like the trail of urine left by a vole …Birds see a massive spectrum of color our brains are simply incapable of processing.”

The aqua eye ring of a male anhinga in breeding plumage - Huntington Beach State Park. ©

Ackerman also quotes a Princeton professor who calls it a “complete reimagining of the color experience.” So if birds can look at the same world we do, and yet see colors we can’t see, how hard is it to believe there’s an unseen spiritual world around us? Just because we can’t see it doesn’t mean it’s not there. Atheists try to deny the existence of these unseen spiritual colors, an unseen spiritual dimension. More commonly, though, people sense that God or a “force” of some kind exists, but they question whether we can connect to it. Traveling around ancient Greece, the Christian apostle Paul noticed the agnosticism of citizens of Athens. Here’s what he told them:

For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, (Acts 17:23-27)

According to the Bible, the God who made the entire physical realm is close to each one of us, and we can know Him. He created each of us and appointed when and where we live. He sees us. Are we looking for Him? Will you and I seek Him? Ask Him for eyes to see.