Hi Peter and B-Aus,
Interesting indeed. Maybe honeyeater feet are stronger than I give them credit.
I have handled many individuals of all but two species you mention and never
had a drop of blood spilled. Maybe different people have tougher/softer skin??
Or perhaps it is because I try not to give the birds a chance to grab me, they
hurt (especially the larger species and bell miners in particular)!
Wendy, you are most likely correct with your suggestion about treecreepers. I
have had similar experience to Peter. Their feet function very differently to
honeyeaters.
Cheers, Dean
From: : ;
; : RE: [Birding-Aus] Re:
Birds' feetDate: Thu, 29 May 2008 16:52:29 +1000
Dean,You're comment below is interesting as I would say that in my experience
many honeyeaters can break the skin. Those that I know from personal experinec
that can draw blood include:Noisy FriarbirdLittle FriarbirdRed WattlebirdNoisy
MinerBell Miner (and they come in big numbers)Yellow-throated
MinerSpiny-cheeked HoneyeaterBlue-faced HoneyeaterWhite-eared Honeyeater
(rarely)White-plumed Honeyeater (yes, even something this small can
occassionally break the skin)Many a winter trip to central NSW has been
followed with complaints (and sore hands) from banding large numbers of
'piano-playing' honeyeaters.Surprisingly (at least to me) I have never had a
treecreeper even grip my hands with their seemingly long and strong
claws.Cheers,Peter> From: > To:
; > Date: Thu, 29 May 2008
01:14:21 +1000> Subject: [Birding-Aus] Re: Birds' feet> > > > Hi Sonja,> > The
term talon is usually restricted to birds that use their feet to subdue or kill
large prey or are relatives of species that do and have retained the same foot
morphology (typically owls and 'diurnal' birds of prey). For other birds these
are usually referred to as claws. The damage that talons can produce comes
mainly from the strong tendons controlling movement of the toes. Anyone who has
handled large honeyeaters can attest to the sharpness of their claws, but they
don't have the force to break the skin. Other birds have sharp claws used for
gripping or climbing, for e.g. treecreepers.> Anatomically a claw consists of a
bone covered in a keratin sheath. There is a blood supply internally to nourish
the keratin as it grows (like fingernails the keratin grows outwards from the
body, it is dead tissue at maturity). This is why trimming bird's claws can
result in considerable bleeding if cut anterior to the end of the 'quick'. The
sheath continually wears and is replenished by new inner layers. This is also
true of the keratinous sheath covering the bill (termed the rhamphotheca).>
With regards to the Gang-gang with the deformed claw. It should be perfectly
fine. It is not unusual to see wild birds lacking a claw or two. For example,
several newly caught babblers (i.e. not previously captured) that I work on
have had a missing claw, either broken at the base or absent and have a stubby
toe. No doubt this is painful when the injury occurs but birds are able to
adapt to the slight disability, including wild parrots which I have also seen
several with a missing a claw apparently with no ill-effect. So the gang-gang
should be fine.> > Cheers, Dean> > > > > Date: > Wed, 28 May 2008 20:15:00
+1000> > > > > I am processing some images of Gang-gang Cockatoos taken today,
and while checking sharpness, have noticed that one of the talons (is that
correct, by the way as all the books seem to just cover feathers) is broken. It
seems to taper in from the edges to form a hole. It made me wonder if this
would adversely affect the bird - altering it's grip for example or causing
pain like dental caries, or just be like a broken finger nail, and are they
hollow, like cow horns? Can anyone enlighten me please? Sonja Ross> >
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