Legless Birds

It was our interest in this one-legged sparrow, now called Hoppity, that brought to our attention the number of small birds which have problems with their legs.  Considering how incredibly spindly these appendages are, it isn't really surprising.

While Hoppity has only lost the lower part of his leg, and seems to have led a perfectly normal life, including finding a mate and bringing up at least one chick, others are less fortunate.  This young sparrow seems to have lost a complete leg, and doesn't look very happy about his lot.

The blackbirds have had a very good year for bringing up families.  At least two pairs of blackbirds have been visiting our bird tables, one from the east and one from the west, the latter being responsible for considerable depredations in our strawberry and raspberry crops.  The chicks, an unusually demanding lot, have been successfully reared, but....

....one of them has a deformed foot.  She looks perfectly healthy otherwise, so hopefully we'll be able to follow her progress through the winter.