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Today we travel to the open plains and grasslands of Australia to meet one of the continent’s most impressive ground birds—a creature that looks almost prehistoric as it strides across the landscape, yet carries within it a surprising and dramatic courtship display that few people ever witness.

Its name is the Australian Bustard.

This is one of Australia’s largest flying birds. A full-grown male can stand nearly 3 feet, 3 inches tall, with a wingspan of more than two times that. He has a long neck, long strong legs, mottled brown and grey plumage that blends beautifully with the dry grass, and a black crown on his head. The female is smaller, but still an imposing bird. For most of the year the Australian Bustard walks with a slow, deliberate, almost dignified gait—head held high—searching for seeds, insects, lizards, and whatever else the land provides.

But when the breeding season arrives, something remarkable happens.

The male chooses an open space and begins a courtship display that is both strange and powerful. He inflates a large throat sac until it hangs down like a great feather-covered balloon, sometimes nearly reaching the ground. His tail feathers are cocked high. Then, while strutting slowly or turning in place, he produces a deep, resonant booming or roaring sound—a call that has been compared to a distant lion’s roar or a low, guttural growl. The sound carries a long way across the open country. First you may hear a soft clicking as he draws air into the sac; then comes the deep, vibrating boom.

It is a spectacle few people can forget once they have seen and heard it.

Why does the Creator design such a thing?

The inflated sac and the far-carrying roar are the male’s way of announcing his presence and strength. In the wide, sparsely populated plains, a quiet bird might go unnoticed. But this booming call demands attention. It is a declaration: “I am here.”

Scripture often speaks of a voice that carries. The Lord says through the prophet Isaiah, “Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet” (Isaiah 58:1). The gospel itself is meant to be proclaimed so that it reaches far. The Australian Bustard’s roar reminds us that some messages are not meant to stay quiet or hidden. There is a time to speak with volume and clarity.

Yet notice something else. For most of the year this same bird is relatively quiet and well camouflaged. He does not strut about inflated all the time. The dramatic display is reserved for a specific season and purpose. There is wisdom in that. Not every moment calls for the same intensity. Ecclesiastes tells us there is “a time to keep silence, and a time to speak” (Ecclesiastes 3:7). The bustard lives both truths.

Consider also the bird’s way of life. The Australian Bustard is largely nomadic. It moves with the rains and the availability of food across vast stretches of inland Australia. It does not cling permanently to one small patch of ground. When the country dries up, it moves on, trusting that provision will be found elsewhere. In that pattern we hear an echo of the pilgrim life. Hebrews 11 describes the people of faith as “strangers and exiles on the earth” who desire “a better country, that is, a heavenly one.” We are not meant to settle our hearts too deeply in any temporary place.

For additional devotions, please check out "Flashlight Eyes" and "Flashlight Eyes Volume 2" available in both the Kindle and paperback formats. Available at Amazon.com. Also, please visit You Tube or Spotify to listen to our original Christian songs which have been transformed by Suno.ai into masterpieces. Go to the albums "Vic and Eva Zarley - Volume 1, 2 and 3". Here's a link to You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/@VicAltonZ