In the Beginning was Information

not be able to reach Hawaii because it started out with too little fat. Todetermine the number of hours that the bird could fly with the givenamount of fuel, we have to solve the following equation for z:G z = G 0 x (1-p) z = 200 - 70 = 130 g.The result is that the 70 g of fat will be consumed after 72 hours which is81 % of the required flying time. This means that the bird would plungeinto the ocean 800 km short of its destination. Did we make some mistake,or has the bird been inadequately constructed by the Creator? The answer toboth questions is “no”. We regard the Creator’s work with amazement. Heemploys the fundamental theorem which states that “energy input is optimisedthrough information”. In the case of the plover this means that thebird has been given some important additional information, namely: “Donot fly alone (curve G A ), but fly in a V formation (curve G V )! In the V formationyou will save 23 % of your energy and will then safely reach yourdestination”. Curve G V in Figure 45 depicts the weight decrease in V formation.After 88 hours the normal residual amount of fat is 6.8 g, which hasnot been carried along unnecessarily, but is a reserve to be used when headwindsare encountered. The extremely low specific rate of fuel consumption,p = 0.6 % of its weight per hour, is all the more amazing when wecompare it with that of manmade aircraft which is orders of magnitudegreater (for a helicopter p = 4 to 5 %; and p = 12 % for a jet plane).Somebody who does not regard these precise phenomena as the work ofthe Creator, cannot answer the following questions:– How does the bird know the exact energy requirement?– How is it possible that the bird accumulates the exact amount of fatbefore the journey?– How does the bird know the distance and the specific fuel consumption?– How does the bird know the migration route?– How does the bird navigate to reach its destination promptly?– How does the bird know to fly in a V formation with other birds toreduce fuel consumption?In my book, “If animals could talk” [G15] (CLV Publishers, Bielefeld),the golden plover acts as narrator involving the reader in an imaginarydialogue. The facts presented here are used as point of departure to drawthe reader’s attention to numerous wonders of creation.Besides the Eastern Siberian golden plover mentioned above, there is alsothe North American golden plover (Nominatrasse). These birds alsoundertake a non-stop long distance migration flight from the coast ofLabrador across the Atlantic ocean to Brazil. The western plovers followthe same route for both the outward and the return journey, but the Americanplovers use different routes in autumn and spring. On the northward243