Hi,
This is my first post and a needy one unfortunately.
I have a bird feeding station at work which attracts all manner of birds and yesterday a beautiful jay pitched up (used to get 2 visiting regularly) but didnt look like any other jay.
It just sat in the tree outside the window for ages,not taking an interest in anything but looking very very fat .
On closer inspection with binoculars i can now say that its lost most of its beak which may mean that it looks fat because its fluffed its feathers up ,i really dont know.
It flies ok and east sunflower seeds from the bird table but does look very sorry for itself.
Does anybody know if i can do anything or do you think its been like that from birth or is it just a recent unfortunate accident /disease thats caused it ?
advice welcome please
Hi Gary
You posted this twice, so you need to click on the Delete button on the other one. You only need one click to post threads and replies on here.
What a shame for such a lovely bird.
It sounds like it might have had an accident, but I doubt if there is anything that you can do. Catching it would probably be so stressful that it might die of a heart attack.
If it can eat from your bird table then feeding it is probably your best bet.
Best wishes Chris
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Thanks,
I'm going to try and take a photo of it ,just curious to know if anybody thinks it may have been a birth defect but i suppose thats not very likely and its just met with a very unfortuate accident,perhaps had its beak trapped ?
What a shame and such beautiful birds. If it is eating then I think it is best left alone
Of all creatures, man is the most detestable, he is the only creature that inflicts pain for sport, knowing it to be pain. ~ Mark Twain
Hi Gary and welcome to the community!
Birds are occasionally seen with deformities from birth but they are rare as if they are prevented from behaving as a healthy wild bird, they do not tend to survive for very long. However, if they can learn to cope with a problem such as a mishapen bill then they can do just fine.
We occasionally get reports with birds growing abnormally long beaks, this is thought to be a result of damaging the bills through collisions. I agree with the other comments that you should leave this bird alone as it sound slike it has learnt to find food despite its injury/deformity.
Warden Intern at Otmoor.