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It’s in your nature: Birds’ feet

Published March 05. 2022 07:50AM

Sources vary on the exact number but for argument’s sake, I’ll note that over 800 species of birds can be found in North America. Of those, none are flightless. We tend to focus on bird’s flight or flight feathers, perhaps because we are more likely to see them in flight or those flight feathers’ colors help us to distinguish one from the other. I like to focus on the birds other appendages, their feet.

Depending on the bird species, the functions of their feet can be quite varied. Some, such as the wild turkey, rely heavily on their feet to move about the forest to find food, and quite often, just to outrun danger. On the other end of the spectrum is a hummingbird with tiny, lightweight feet that they use occasionally to rest (not a common occurrence) or to perch on the nest. Predatory birds have specialized feet to capture and/or hold their prey.

Waterfowl, spending much of their lives in the water, have webbed feet to allow them to swim. A few diving waterfowl species have their feet located farther back on their ventral (belly) sides to allow them to swim so effectively that they are able to snag fish underwater.

Common loons, and grebe species, in fact, can only take flight from the water surface.

The Times News recently reported about a grebe that had to be taken to a lake so it could take flight. Loon, awkward on land, must “run” across a lake’s surface in order to take off. Occasionally, after a rainy evening, a loon may be found on a roadside unable to fly. It probably mistook the glossy road surface for a body of water and landed on the wrong surface.

I would like to offer up some photos of birds with either specialized feet and/or other special uses of their feet. Enjoy.

Test Your Outdoor Knowledge: A hawk scatters a huge flock of starlings or sandpipers and they all fly like a finely orchestrated group, twisting and turning in unison. This flock motion is referred to as: A. nictitations, B. murmurations, C. panic flight, D. bedlam.

Last Week’s Trivia Answer: Bald eagles will begin incubating their eggs as soon as the first one is laid. That is the reason the young in the nest are different sizes, because they hatch days apart.

Note regarding eagles: On Feb. 26, I observed nine bald eagles in Eastern Carbon County in a span of 10 minutes.

Contact Barry Reed at breed71@gmail.com.

The osprey has specially adapted feet. With an outer reversible toe, very long sharp talons, and talons with spicules (special stiff bristles) to better grasp fish. BARRY REED/SPECIAL TO THE TIMES NEWS
Herons and egrets, like this common egret, not only have long thin legs to not disturb the water as their feeding, but also longer than normal, thin toes to support them in the “muck” of a pond.
Wood ducks have thin webbing in their feet and longer claws than most ducks to help with their nesting (in trees) and in swimming.
Contrast the thin wood duck webbing with that of the mallard duck which spends most of its life in an aquatic habitat.
How do they do it? Ducks, swans and geese, like these Canada geese in a 33-degree Beltzville Lake, have veins and arteries almost adjoining each other in their feet to help them retain some warmth. When standing in the cold, they often stand on one foot with the other tucked in their feathers.
Another how do they do it? Birds can sleep and not fall off a limb with a tendon that locks their toes to the branch. When they want to fly, they straighten their legs and the tendon relaxes.
Grebes and common loons, like this one, have webbed feet and are excellent underwater swimmers and great fish catchers. However, their feet are placed so far back on their bodies they can only take off after “running” across a lake's surface.
The ruffed grouse for winter grows pectinations (short bristles) on their feet to aid them in walking on the fluffy deep snow.
Juncos and towhees, like this one, have toes a bit longer since they spend considerable time scratching the leafy ground in the search of seeds and insects.
Woodpeckers, like this pileated woodpecker, have feet adapted with two forward and two backward facing toes to enable sure gripping of trunks, or utility poles.
And sometimes, birds' feet can be just perfect for scratching that itch. Pictured, a little blue heron at Assateague Island National Park.