We have a Great Tit which visits our bird table every day. It has an extremely long beak, about 1.5 - 2 cm long. We are wondering if there is any special food we could put out for it. Has anyone else seen any thing like this? We have a photo of it but dont know how to post it.
Hi Jen,
The outer covering (Rhamphotheca) of a bird's bill is made of the same material (Keratin) as fingernails, and grows in the same way. Usually, the wear between the upper and lower mandibles keeps the bill in its normal shape. If, however one mandible is broken, or, if the mandibles aren't alligned correctly, as a result of injury or birth deformity, the rhamphotheca continues to grow unhindered, resulting in an abnormally long bill. The consequences of this depends on the severity of the abnormality.
As for posting you pics: Click on the little film strip (insert media) above the text box in which you write your post. You'll be able to browse for your image from here. When you've chosen it, click "insert", and your picture will appear at the cursor location. I believe the maximum size is 4mb. I simply resize my pics to a width of 400mp.
Hope this helps,
MC:-)
Thanks for the info. Have managed to put the photo on now.
Yes, that really is quite extreme isn't it? Fortunately , it doesn't appear to have hindered it feeding.
My goodness! Poor thing, although it seems to be feeding ok as Mickycoop says! As long as it has a reliable food source (which it has thanks to you!) and access to water then I'm sure it will be fine!
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Hi,
deformed bills seem to crop up ( no pun intended) fairly often especially in tits- unless we just notice it because we observe tits more . I've seen Great and Blue tits with this and they fed with nps. I've also seen it on Goldfinch, carrion crow and last year on dunnock :)
S
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That is one of the most amasing things I have ever seen . he looks well healthy Thanks to you.
Cheers
AL
If its no fun Yer no doin it right!
Oh poor thing good job he has a food source thanks to you. Hope he fairs well and a great photo by the way
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 JenW,
We've got a blue tit with a long beak like this one. It seems to be able to deal particularly well with fat balls so I make sure there are always plenty for it to go at. Seems to do the trick!
cheers
Ladybird
Why is there never enough time?