Sick Bird: One legged Starling
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I seen a Starling with only one leg the past couple of weeks.(Or the leg is injured and tucked up into the belly feathers) I never see it try to use the other leg when losing it’s balance that makes me think it is gone. He/she has a hard time standing on one leg but can still eat well. The starling has a hard time drinking from the edge of the birdbath, losing balance as it tried to bend over to drink. I placed a 2 inch deep pan of water for it to drink from while it was standing on the ground instead of having to stand and balance on a narrow rim, now it can drink well.
Categories: Other
Species: European Starling
Comments
10 comments on “Sick Bird: One legged Starling”
Don’t know what the date of this is but I have a bird feeder in my backyard and it’s by my window and I watch it all the time this year 2021 I have seen many starlings with one leg not just two or three but many and the years passed I’ve not seen But one or two I’m just wondering what’s up
I noticed one in my backyard today. At first I thought that maybe it was just cold hopping around on top of the snow. But the longer I watched, I was able to see it put a leg down to balance itself, but the foot was missing.
I too feed the birds and found a one legged Starling and am in Halifax Nova Scotia. He or she isn’t as scared of me as it use to be and doesn’t try to fly off as quickly now but when it was scared of me it would often fall down trying to get away fast. Makes me sad. I’m trying to fatten it up a bit for winter but there are so so many In its family that the others tend to take most of the food before it can get its full. Any advice or anything will help
Also in Halifax, and am feeding a one-legged starling, I wonder if the same one? It spends a lot of time in my yard now, so I can occasionally manage to put down a little mealworm/peanut pieces/bsfl when the rest of the flocking starlings are not around and it seems to get a lot. Most of the time the rest of the flock are around and I get a feeding frenzy – I counted 52 at once today.
I have a young one legged starling. He/she loves the mealworms. I’m not a fan of starlings but I feel bad for it. I have not seen other starlings for a while. Grackles and red-wings
I also have a starling with a missing foot. It’s been coming to my yard off and on for over a year…unless this is a new one. Googled for the “why”. Interesting it’s happening all over. I’m in Arizona.
I’m so surprised to hear others are seeing one legged starlings and am curious what could be the cause. I’m an avid bird watcher and for the first time had a one legged starling at my feeder yesterday. I live in Cushing, Maine. I noticed it can hop on one leg quite well although it seemed to collapse a few times as though losing its balance or the good leg is tired out. It tried to eat from the suet feeder but had a difficult time holding on. It did better eating from the ground. It can fly great and I saw it perched in the tree so hoping it will survive.
I’m so surprised to hear about all the others who have seen one legged starlings and in different locations. I’m an avid bird watcher and saw a one legged starling at my feeder yesterday. It seemed to do quite well eating from the ground but seemed to collapse a few times as though it lost its balance or its good leg got tired. It can fly great and was with a flock of other birds so hopefully it will survive.
Sorry the message was posted twice
I’m in MN and have one with a broken/dislocated leg as well. I wonder if they are ground scavengers and get caught by predators but are able to escape before further damage is done? I’m glad they are all “ok” otherwise and adapting. If I see it unable to fly or eat, I will capture and take to rehab. It kills me seeing anything injured.
i’m in NorthEastern Pennsylvania and bird watch all day out of my sunroom. A one legged Starling has visited me again. Little Stumpy was here in the Spring and must be migrating past again. It is a very healthy Starling and I can see it is missing one leg from the knee down. It is with a family of three others. It seems to be living a good life.