Participant Photo: Steller’s Jay with Leg Disease
This picture of this Steller’s Jay was taken in Dec, 2018 in my front yard. Both legs are covered with a white substance, left worse than right. As of a few days ago he was still coming to the feeder but only on the ground underneath and he no longer bears weight on the left foot. He also used to come to my bubbler. Now my bubbler is drained and feeders are down as I am fearing contamination as this is one of 5 sickly birds observed recently in my yard.
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9 comments on “Participant Photo: Steller’s Jay with Leg Disease”
We have a Steller that has the same problem with one of his feet. It’s really sad seeing him struggle. Did you find anything out about this? We were thinking of trying to trap him and take him to the Audubon or vet, but not sure we could catch him, even if we tried.
Hi Stephen, The best thing to do is to call a local wildlife rehabilitator or wildlife veterinarian before acting – they will be able to give you the best advice, and offer tips on how to capture the bird if they deem it is necessary.
Does anyone have a name and\or cause of this white leg disease occurring among Stellers Jay’s?
Hi Tracey, Many diseases that wild birds can contract can have a symptom such as this. One of the more common ones is Scaly-leg, which is caused by mites. Be sure to clean your feeders regularly to help prevent the spread of disease, and if you see a visibly injured bird, it’s always best to contact a wildlife rehabilitator for advice.
You might need to capture the bird and take him to a rehabilitation center where they can provide proper care
Hi Ana, It’s best to call a wildlife rehabilitator or wildlife hospital before attempting the capture the bird, to ensure that capture is really necessary, and to ensure compliance with federal law (usually you need to possess, or be under the direction of someone holding federal permits in order to handle or touch wild birds).
Hi Nancy Clogston,
I came across this 2018 thread and I’m wondering what happened to your Steller’s jay; I am on the East coast and just noticed on one of our blue jays this odd white-legs occurrence. Never seen anything like this.
Did your pretty visitor recover?
Hi Nancy Clogston and all,
Here in a suburb of Vancouver, BC, Canada, we have a visiting Steller’s jay with the same condition. She has been coming around with this white-leg encrustation for around a year now, and seems no worse off for it, although it looks horribly uncomfortable. We have worried that it would transfer to her mate, but that has not happened. This thread is the only reference to it that I can find on the web, which seems odd. I would love to know what it is. We don’t intend to try to capture the bird.
I saw a female Common Grackle with this before.
We just moved to Delaware and have a home with a backyard and we put up three birdfeeders and all the birds seem very healthy, many different species, but I did notice this white crustacean on the feet of one of the Blue Jays. I don’t see it on any other and I hope it doesn’t transfer to other birds because I don’t want to get rid of my birdfeeders because it is now the winter months and I want to help the birds have food