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Reader question: Please explain this sentence – “The call it the Jesus bird for its ability to walk on water.” Why Jesus? My comments: They name the bird after Jesus because Jesus could walk on water. This, straight from the Bible (John 6, New King James Version): Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them. Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing. So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid. But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going. There you go. Now, being someone of Taoist inclination, i.e. someone who believes in the infinite powers of nature, I can understand Jesus of Nazareth perfectly. I understand him however as a metaphor, not as the God Christians revere and worship. But first, the bird. The bird named after Jesus is a real bird. The Australian jacana, for instance, is one of them. This, from Besgroup.org (September 25, 2009): Like other jacanas, it has typically elongated toes and claws that help spread its weight when moving across floating vegetation, like the large leaves of waterlilies. This in turn gives the impression that they walk on water, especially when the vegetation is submerged, Such behaviour gives rise to the popular names of Jesus bird and Christbird. | 
