I live near LA California and have noticed a strange and puzzeling thing that maybe you can shed some light on. I ve noticed that probably 7 out of 10 pigeons I see have at least 1 missing, or severely gnarled foot. My question is: has this been noticed elsewhere and what happened to their feet?
I’ve noticed a few here and there. But nowhere near 70% of them. They seem to do quite well with only one foot, and their heads don’t bob nearly as much!
Before we go any further, could you possibly provide a photo of a zero-footed pigeon.
Which isn’t somebody’s dinner.
Damn, thought this was another delightful thread about versification.
At least these birds aren’t walking “pigeon-toed” anymore. Perhaps this is the dastardly work of a deranged podiatrist, pediatrician or pediatric physical therapist who adopted a policy of amputation after his pigeon-scaled leg braces failed to cure them of the habit…?
I noticed this when I moved to Toronto and used to think it was due to the cold. However, I’ve been told this happpens often as a result of “pest control” stuff. It’s a paste that renders surfaces sticky and pigeons don’t land on it. But some peoople use glue boards instead.
An “animal lover” I know (note: not necessarily a dependable source of information) said this is also responsible for a lot of missing pigeon toes. It damages the pigeons’ feet and they lose digits.
Well goodness, there are so many things that can happen to you in the city. And birds arn’t meant to be walking around on concrete. I’ve always thought it was nice of them to stick around and eat our garbage. Otherwise the wildlife of most citys would be cockroaches. And “flying rats” should be considered hate speech!!!
Anyway I think they stay here for the food we throw out but it’s still a peril for a bird in a concret jungle.
City pigeons lead a risky life. Some of the hazards are manmade and meant to bother the pigeons, and some aren’t. Urban roofs have a smattering of steam vents and such, that are dangerous to land on. There are alley cats, owls and falcons to feed on the pigeons. A near-catch might cost a pigeon foot, but leave the bird alive.
The manmade dangers are many. Besides the glue boards already mentioned, there are razor brackets (sharp zigzag steel things on window sills and parapets.) Every pigeon that lands on one learns not to do it again, but might lose part of a foot to the experience. There’s a hotfoot chemical for window sills, and pigeons might peck off a foot rather than endure the pain.
In every big city, there are pigeon fanciers. They raise the birds for racing, and each pigeon has a leg-band for ID. Do these bands ever injure the birds? I don’t know, but I have wondered.
The old court house in my county had opening windows for ventilation. The county workers always complained of getting lice from the pigeons on the window sills. Between that and the carpet of bird poop on the sidewalks, the “feathered rats” epithet is easy to understand. Even in Venice, the feeding of the pigeons of St. Mark’s square is now forbidden.
I will meet you at flying squirrels.
I suggest “flying rat” is far too complimentary a term for a species we ought to render extinct with all possible speed. Even after we do that, in 100 years I suspect the damn things will be back.
(Kidding, but just barely.)
I swear I read a straight dope column about this maybe it was the competitor, one of David Feldman’s books
I’m picturing a bird with a furry tail. I like it.
And I remain beliving we should give some respect to the squirrels and pigeons. They hang out with us where no one else will. (Other than the rats and the cockrouches…who I have a certain amount of respect for but I don’t want them around)
We need a little wildlife in the places we’ve made difficult for wildlife. I don’t want to be in a place without animals.
So if that means a NYC bird foot replacment program, sign me up.
Goes out to fill up the bird feeder.
I’m picturing a cartoon character with a leather flight helmet and goggles on his forehead. he hangs out with a moose.
Are you sure they are missing a foot and not just standing on one leg? This very common for some bird species (don’t know about pigeons.)
I agree with LSL Guy “Exterminate, exterminate”** the filthy buggers.
**In Dalek speak
Awww 
I love pigeons. I feed them whenever I can. Them and seagulls 
I have a picture of me at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, sitting on the grass, with about 20-25 pigeons perched on various parts of my body. It was a hoot!
So it’s you is it. :mad:
Right, the hit squad is on its way…be afraid, be very afraid
Yes, you can very definitely see pigeons walking around on club-like remains of their toeless feet. It’s so common here, that I would say one in six is probably missing a toe or two or is doing the liitle hobble walk with no toes at all. You can see the full leg, all the way down to the ankle and then whatever is left of the foot.
I’m going out later, I’ll try to bring my camera and see if I can take a picture of one with the missing toes/foot. It’s very obvious ot the naked eye.
http://www.sunsuiwah.com/about/squab.jpg
Would YOU eat that?