Club Foot

[finnbay]

Had this little fella showin' up on the deck at the feeder the last few days:

Seems to do okay except that he can't grasp onto the hanging feeder or tree branches. Picks up seed from the deck and my flat feeder. Seems to fly all right.

Closeup:

Seems we had a similar issue here a few months ago, but can't remember the specifics. You can see all the toes are there, but deformed. Any ideas of what might cause this?

[Steve Foss]

There are a couple diseases caused by decaying seed in and around bird feeders. It could be one of those. In spring/summer/early fall, I clean my feeders once every two weeks, spraying them out completely and letting them dry before restocking, and occasionally drench them in a very diluted bleach/water solution.

[finnbay]

Whoa! Had no idea about that! Will have to get mine cleaned. Thanks, Steve!

[Steve Foss]

Ken, the good news is that the deformities don't tend to be long-lasting and seem to reverse themselves or harden and drop off over time, though if severe enough they can impede the birds' abilities to perch and forage to the point that birds weaken and die.

[Dbl]

Never seen that, interesting.

[Jim Almquist]

Thanks for the heads up Steve and from now on I will have to be a little bit more picky about my cleaning. I guess a rinse with the garden hose is just not good enough every time. Ken if it wasn't for your pics we would have never known so a big THANKS to you also.