Many pigeons have deformed feet

Sort of a gross subject for a chat, but has anyone else noticed the feet of the pigeons in this country? A lot of them are missing toes and have very weird feet. Someone pointed this out to me a few years ago and now I can’t help but notice. I was sitting outside in a café on Sunday and saw one walk by that just had two stumps and no feet at all.

How does this happen? Is there a type of pigeon poison that burns their feet when the walk through it?

Fot those that live in "pigeon slums", possibly acids in the droppings they walk through.
Most likely I think are injuries from accidents in traffic or getting feet caught in obstructions.

I've noticed large numbers of pigeons with abnormalities of the toes
and feet in every urban area I've visited. The life of an urban bird
is not an easy one; pigeons can acquire deformed feet in several ways.
The main causes are diseases ("pigeon pox" or "bumble-foot") and
injury from entanglement in synthetic threads such as fishing line.

"Question
I often see pigeons with extremely distorted feet and this seems to be
true of city-dwelling pigeons throughout the world. It is not as
common among other creatures (including other birds) in urban
environments. Can anyone tell me what causes these deformities?

Heather McDougal, London

Answers
The deformities on pigeons' feet are caused by infection with
Staphylococcus. The common name for the condition is bumble-foot. The
bacteria, which are present on the skin and in the pigeons' droppings,
get into the foot through cracks in the skin and eventually cause
tendinitis, arthritis and joint abscesses. The condition in feral
pigeons is incurable."

New Scientist: Questions & answers on everyday scientific phenomena
http://www.newscientist.com/lastword/article.jsp?id=lw128

"There are several causes of deformity in pigeons. 'Pigeon pox' is a
disease that causes growths and deformities of the feet. Vitamin B
deficiency can cause paralysis.

Overgrown beaks are fairly common; the excess growth will often break
off by itself and the birds can usually still feed. Synthetic threads
caught on their toes or feet can cause the loss of toes, whole feet,
or unpleasant wounds."

Eastbourne Borough Council: Feral Pigeons
http://www.eastbourne.gov.uk/Your_Home/dow...rol-pigeons.pdf

"Deformities of the feet are caused mainly by disease and injury and
are most noticeable among ground feeding species, especially in urban
environments.

Cuts to the feet can allow infection to occur which may result in
swelling and lameness... Avian pox can cause wart-like growths on the
feet of house sparrows, starlings and pigeons...

A common disability among urban birds is the loss of all or part of a
foot due to a discarded thread or wire, while discarded fishing line
can have a similar effect in the countryside. Many birds can survive
an amputation but any resulting infection will usually prove fatal.
Congenital deformities involving extra or missing toes are rare and
gross abnormalities, such as an extra leg, do not survive."

Royal Society for the Protection of Birds: Bird deformities
http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/advice/birdde...ities/index.asp

Regarding the matter of whether this sort of handicap will affect the
pigeon's ability to survive, this is likely to be determined by the
competitiveness of the environment. If food is plentiful and predators
are few, an injured pigeon may do quite well. Several years ago I
worked in a downtown office. A regular fixture of the sidewalk outside
the building was a pigeon that my co-workers named "Pete." Pete was a
one-legged bird, which meant that he could neither walk nor fly
normally. However, he was resourceful enough to scavenge enough food
to stay fit and active for more than five years. Pete was finally
brought down not by starvation, but by an automobile that failed to
yield to him as he was crossing the street.

Google search strategy:

Google Web Search: "pigeons" + "feet" + "toes"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=pigeons+feet+toes

Google Web Search: "deformity OR deformities" + "pigeons" + "feet"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=deformity+OR+deformities+pigeons+feet

Just searching google now for "Where is Madeleine?" but getting a few conflicting answers...

sick!

Isnt the internet amazing? With all the time we spend online, we should be a lot smarter.

I am! In the last 24 hours I have learnt how to make telescope mirrors and why pigeons have shitty feet, amongst other things. Talk about diverse!

If we must...

rats with wings!

They're on myspage: ratswithwings!

It's clearly crazy Czech guys running around with knives and bottles of vodka in Prague station, performing surgery on the poor buggers before sending them to terrorize the streets in Munich.

Well, at least I saw that happen once

That's good to know -- I had actually thought some of them were born with deformities due to poison or something, so it is good to know what really causes it.

I saw a dying pigeon a couple of weeks ago, hunched up in a corner on the sidewalk. Felt kind of bad and actually thought about calling someone, but I don't suppose animal rescue organizations would take care of a dying pigeon, would they? My mom might actually have done something herself to end its misery, but I am not so secure in my successful, quick and painless bird-killing abilities (plus, what would the neighbors think! )

Some local German ex-Wok Man employee wannabe chef trying to replace the recently retired Don Riina tried to babel fish Bird's Nest Soup (yan wo or jin wo or 燕�) and got bird's feet instead which totally screwed the local flying rat population.

Seeing as avian flu is getting closer to Munich calling the fire department might have been an option. We found a sick swan in the English Garden once, the firemen took it to the bird station in Oberschleißheim. Then again, when I called there the next day to find out if the swan made it through the night they denied any knowledge of the incident at all. Hmm, roasted swan ...

You're bored, stacer. I can tell!