As you can see, his middle claw seems to have some kind of swelling. Is this something that might heal on it's own? The dunnock is feeding well enough and I make sure there is plenty of dunnock type grub available, but I'm concerned for his welfare, especially as Baby R seems to have decided to attack the young dunnock at every opportunity. Earlier today he was chasing a great tit away from the same tree, so he clearly has social issues :-) On a serious note, will this claw heal?
Another shot, this time showing the dunnock keeping the weight off the right foot.
Said Mother Tern to Baby Tern "Would you like a brother?"
Said Baby Tern to Mother Tern "Yes, one good tern deserves another"
Spike Milligan
Hi MC I'm wondering if it's had some type of injury and it's healed over, it's not surprising we see birds with feet and leg problems when you look how delicate they are..hopefully it will be ok.
Regards Alan
My photos are on Flickr and Website
It could be some type of injury as Alan says. We had a pied wag for months and we watched as his foot got alternately better then worse again. In the end he couldn't really put any weight on it but it's remarkable how well they adapt...you only have to look at pigeons in town centres to see some horrid and distressing sights, but they get along. I suppose it will depend if infection sets in. other than that, do dunnocks get avian pox? With regard to your robin, it always seems to me that robins regard dunnocks as just another robin and won't often tolerate them on 'their' property. I expect it's cos they have the same diet.
Cheers Deb
http://www.flickr.com/photos/Debz_14/
I hope the dunnock will recover too. Apart from BR, the dunnock, especially the juvenile, is the most 'tame' of the birds in my garden. As you can see from the photos, it allows me to get within a couple of feet to take photos. The dunnocks are always there, even though they are incredibly hard to spot at times and it is easy to confuse them with the robins as they keep low and use the same 'flightpaths'. A quick blur of brown and they are gone. They also go to the holly tree in times of danger, as does BR. Here's one more picture of our wounded friend, who is eating well and looks to be bearing up ok, but this foot problem has only manifested itself over the past couple of days.
I just checked the photo of the dunnock in my 'Happier Times In The Garden' posting from September 2nd. There is some evidence of swelling in that photo, but only a small amount.
Luckily the dunnock spends nearly all of its time in my garden, mooching around under the tree and rooting around for grubs, so I am able to keep an eye on him :-)