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View Full Version : Is there a vet in the house?



barocca
06-09-2004, 03:41
A little more than 2 years ago i moved to my current address, over the way is an area of undeveopled scrub, behind and around are very large playing fields and an abandoned farm, behind us is a nature reserve, well over 100 acres of untouched bushland, including a small subtropical rainforest. (hard to see how it survives given the limited rainfall here, but it does)

We are surrounded by native wildlife here, all this is in the heart of the largest city in Queensland, not 10k's from city center.
Naturally this brings with it inherent dangers to the wildlife.

Shortly after we moved in i observed an Australian Magpie on the wing get clipped by a speeding car, it tumbled and landed in my front yard - well crashed is more like it.
This particular Magpie is very smart and as you will see extremely resilient.
He was a little groggy, but alert enough to avoid my attempts to recover him, he could not fly more than a foot or two, but that was enough to keep him out of my reach.
At no time during this first encounter did he use his feet, he flopped into the grass when he landed, and took off from a sitting position.

It was scorchingly hot at the time and he took refuge in a small grove of leafy plants in the corner of my yard, as he could not fly i placed a bowl of water as close as i could so he could drink.
After a couple of days he had exhausted the food supply in the grove and was becomming more approachable.
I decided to feed him scaps of meat and after a couple more days he began to hop towards me whenever i went into the front yard.
It was at this time i noticed his feet are balled, the toes do not extend and he was hopping, instead of walking.

((It is very hard to pick the gender of this type of magpie unless you can find the nest, i assume Maggie is male because the males of this type lead the young on foraging expeditions, while the female recuperates after hatching and rearing the chicks.))

Once he started leaving the grove i noticed another Magpie (his mate) would frequent the front yard and occaisionally bring him grasshoppers and the like - very unusual behaviour - a wounded Magpie is usually abandoned by it's mate.

Anyway Maggies mate has stuck with him ever since, and though they have since only once successfully raised more than one chick per hatching (typically 3 to 5 is the norm), they nonetheless have continued to bring a new chick to visit every few months, even well outside the breeding season

This pair are unsual because they stuck together after Maggie was injured, the female brought him food once she knew where he was holed up.
And, for some unknown reason he and my cats more than tolerate eachother.
Despite the fact he has to be very selective where he lands with his feet he has survived and continues to rear chicks.

What i would like to know is was the damage to his feet caused by the impact with the car, for some weeks after the hit he could not hop very far without collapsing in obvious distress,
or was the balled feet a pre-existing condition?
It did take him quite some time to learn how to walk on them without simply hopping everywhere. Thus i suspect either his legs were very sore from the impact, or his feet were broken by the impact and have healed in the form they currently are - balled

note the feet AND compare the way he stands,
with the way his chick stands
- i dont try and get too close, i dont want them to be too friendly, they are wild birds after all
http://www.totalwar.org/barocca/misc/Photo006.jpg

as close as i could get - i had to slide the camera along the ground while lying prostrate
http://www.totalwar.org/barocca/misc/Photo007.jpg

Maggie and his latest chick singing for breakfast
http://www.totalwar.org/barocca/misc/Photo003.jpg

Breakfast - scraps of real cheese
http://www.totalwar.org/barocca/misc/Photo004.jpg

any clues?
thanks,
B.

dessa14
06-09-2004, 03:49
its too fat, definatly stop feeding it.
i had the same problem with a pigeon, it got so fat it couldn't fly, and it hurt its leg it was so fat.
this was at the university nearby.
thanks, dessa

barocca
06-09-2004, 04:18
lol,
i only feed them about once every two to three weeks,
mostly about 1/2 of a slice of cheese (the thin slices you can get for sandwiches)
most often just after a new chick is fledged they come visit, (they know they will only see me here just after dawn).
The flatmates report they do visit during the day, but no longer approach anyone else for food.

too fat wont make the feet ball up - and yes he is a fattie - which goes to show, considering we dont feed him that much, how very good he is at surviving.

Incidently we have not seen them visit anyone one else,
and they dont attack people who are near the nest either.

B.

hrvojej
06-09-2004, 04:44
One possibility that his feet got frozen, but I guess we can exclude that, right. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

I'm no vet, and I wouldn't know too much about clinical things, but my guess it's from an injury of some sort. If the finger bones were broken, it's likely that the tendons have pulled the fingers together and they healed in that way (for instance, bird's feet without muscle tension, e.g. in a dead bird will curl up like that). Maybe it was from the car impact, but it could also be some previous injury.

I hope this has been of some help.

dessa14
06-09-2004, 04:50
its probably broken.
thanks, dessa

BlackWatch McKenna
06-10-2004, 00:13
Not a Vet - but I like that story

RisingSun
06-10-2004, 03:47
I think he is fat because since he can't fly he can't exercise, and he gets his food brought to him on a regular basis instead of only getting it when lucky enough to have a successful hunt.

His feet are almost surely broken, but they have healed abnormally. I wouldn't bet on him walking normally ever again.

I'm not a vet, though, just offering my novice diagnosis. http://www.totalwar.org/forum/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

barocca
06-10-2004, 05:09
He can fly now, he was injured 2 years ago,
and he lands with a lot more grace than when he was first injured,

but i'll bet you are close to the truth,
he most likely doesn't fly as much as when he was hale and hearty.

another oddity, we have noisy miner birds here, they ignore him completely.
noisy minors harrass anything in their territory, seeing he doesn't fly as much as he used to, he probably figured out very early that the miner birds are all bluff and just ignores their attempts to scare him away,
they have no doubt realised he is not afraid and thus dont bother him anymore.

His chicks observe his reactions, and while they still duck when divebombed, they dont fly away either
- i am sure this whole thing must be rather confusing to the miner birds who are used to be able to chase anything they set their minds to out of their territory
- i have seen noisy miners actually follow cats into houses, it is quite chaotic to have half a dozen minor birds flying around inside the house dive bombing the cats...

B.

Kraellin
06-10-2004, 06:06
i couldnt really tell from the pictures, but it looks like only the left leg is broken. and yes, that is a break. i've seen similar in other, larger animals. the ankle breaks and the paw, foot, claw turns under, or flops, if it's really bad.

his 'over weight' size might actually be due to internal injuries also. if something got pinched or damaged internally, he might be over eating to compensate for a poor digestion or ripped lining somewhere. or, and this is pure speculation, he might actually be a bit bloated due to starving, somewhat like human stomachs will bloat when they are starving. but again, the internal stuff and bloating are both pure speculation.

but yes, very good story. sort of reminds me of that red tail hawk that started nesting in new york city on a building. animals are quite resilient at times.

K.

barocca
06-10-2004, 14:19
Quote[/b] (Kraellin @ June 10 2004,00:06)]...but yes, very good story. sort of reminds me of that red tail hawk that started nesting in new york city on a building. animals are quite resilient at times.

K.
:-)
Brsbane has a resident pair of peregrine falcons,
they nest atop the Admiralty Towers in Brisbane City each winter,
(winter here starts now, they begin nesting in july)

Frodo returns home to Admiralty Towers (http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,9733671%255E421,00.html)


Frodo and Freida's home page - incudes photo's and videos from last season's hatching (http://thecouriermail.com.au/extras/frodocam/frodo.htm)

cheers,
B.

Redleg
06-10-2004, 14:25
Not a vet but my father raised fighting cocks for many years - so I grew up around birds. From the picture the bird's leg is definetly broken as several have noted. If he can fly and is still wild - if you stop feeding him he will find another place in which to feed.