Birds' feet!

[Fierlin1182]

Why is it that there always seem to be birds missing feet at the park? There's always a seagull/pigeon/sparrow in the flock hobbling around on a little stump. Are they born like this, or are they attacked or something? Wouldn't they bleed out without proper care then?

Always intrigues me.

 

[conny63malies]

Some are born like that,some got hurt and lost it.... they dont always loose tons of blood when loosing a foot. I watched Animal planet and a dog lost a leg in a train accident, it sheared the leg of, but somehow the blood clotted and the dog hopped away (and was rescued by the ASPCA) when i was a kid i had a cat with three legs.She was a normal outside farm cat and all sudden she was gone, we shot she gto run over or killed. But three weeks later she showed up again with a part of her left hind leg missing, it was all healed. She never went to a vet for that, she just somehow survived getting either into a snap trap or was hit by a tractor that cut a field for hay. She lived a few more years and even had more kittens.

BTW my kids call birds that hang around parking lots waiting for had outs "french fry birdies" ,we always would throw old stale fries and cookies crumbs out for them(or whatever accumulates under the back seat)

 

[desertdarlene]

Where I live, many birds lose their feet to fishing line, especially pigeons who seem to have the worst time with it.

 

[Fierlin1182]

French fry birdies!

That's funny. Yesterday I was feeding my one-legged friend at the park, who I'd named George, the scraps from my lunch chicken. George devoured a five square-inch piece of chicken skin, no dramas. I stopped feeding him after that, it was so gross

Amazing story about your cat! I've heard that can happen to humans too... sometimes it just doesn't bleed?

 

[Fierlin1182]

Quote:
It's kinda sad

I wonder how they could stop birds from getting themselves tangled up...
Oh well, it looked like the birds with stumps were having an easier time scratching their heads than the ones with their webbed feet!

 

[conny63malies]

ray's two cents :

French fry birdies!

That's funny. Yesterday I was feeding my one-legged friend at the park, who I'd named George, the scraps from my lunch chicken. George devoured a five square-inch piece of chicken skin, no dramas. I stopped feeding him after that, it was so gross

Amazing story about your cat! I've heard that can happen to humans too... sometimes it just doesn't bleed?

french fry birdies really love under the carseat goodies!!!espc the dried up french fries. My kids sometimes take a extra sample cookie just so they can feed them. Right now we got mostly sparrows, seagulls and ???? running around the parking lots. THe only birds they dont fed were back in Ohio and they were candian geese. My kids hated not being able to play on the schools black top because the dang things were EVERYWHERE.

Dont complain about a sparrow pooping on your car, it could be worse. ( like a pelican doing a overhead poop drop on your windshield.)
What breed is George?​

 

[ChooksinChoppers]

Around here we have grackles...talk about brazen! I was pushing my cart to the car outside walmart and had french fries nestled next to my purse in the kiddy seat..and 2 of them flew down while I was unlocking the car (had my back turned for just a second) and grabbed some fries and flew off with them

 

[conny63malies]

Quote:
see, french fry birdies!!!!!

cant remember what they were, but back in Florida we had birds that would dive attacks at my cat when he was snoozing on the sidewalk.

 

[ChooksinChoppers]

Grackles!

Common Grackles are blackbirds that look like they've been slightly stretched. They're taller and longer tailed than a typical blackbird, with a longer, more tapered bill and glossy-iridescent bodies. Grackles walk around lawns and fields on their long legs or gather in noisy groups high in trees, typically evergreens. They eat many crops (notably corn) and nearly anything else as well, including garbage. In flight their long tails trail behind them, sometimes folded down the middle into a shallow V shape.

I have seen a few with missing legs or feet and the taxi guys out at the airport would bring stale bread to feed the injured ones...awwww! A few were so brazen they would land on the side mirrors of the parked taxi vans and the guys would feed them through the window.
I wondered how that happened to them and thought maybe snapping turtles or gators​

 

[Fierlin1182]

Quote:
french fry birdies really love under the carseat goodies!!!espc the dried up french fries. My kids sometimes take a extra sample cookie just so they can feed them. Right now we got mostly sparrows, seagulls and ???? running around the parking lots. THe only birds they dont fed were back in Ohio and they were candian geese. My kids hated not being able to play on the schools black top because the dang things were EVERYWHERE.

Dont complain about a sparrow pooping on your car, it could be worse. ( like a pelican doing a overhead poop drop on your windshield.)
What breed is George?

Geese, those are another one we get honking and hissing at us! And surprisingly sometimes even those are missing a leg! There I was thinking it was only the smaller birds...

Anyhow, George is a seagull. I didn't think seagulls liked to eat chicken fat, but George was acting like he hadn't eaten in days!!

French fry birdies might also qualify as 'fish n chips' birdies: I was on holiday in Sydney... trying to eat the chips overlooking the harbour was practically impossible! Asian tourists snapped away gleefully as seagulls landed on our shoulders and snatched chips out of our hands. What an adventure.