Ein Footinger

Normal Black-capped Chickadee opening a seed

Early in the winter a Black-capped Chickadee showed up at the feeders that just didn't look right. It was always fluffed and ball-shaped and just.....wrong....somehow.

I thought it was sick and considered taking down the feeders for a few days, but I didn't and somehow it persisted.

It would cling, upside down, to the meal worm block for hours, picking slowly at the feed. It rarely flew when I went out to fill feeders or had reason to be out in the yard. It is normal for chickadees to be quite bold and ours even congregate as soon as I am near the feeders to they can grab some seeds when the big birds aren't around. However, this guy was much more so.

One day it got down in fresh inches-deep snow and lay there panting and struggling desperately. When I approached, thinking to pick it up and perhaps deliver it to a rehabber, it managed to flutter off, but it only went a couple of feet before perching.

I laid it to illness.

It was instead desperate and necessary trust.

The other day, despite being kinda, sorta, blind....ish....I finally got a good look at it.

It is not sick.

It only has one functional leg. The other is withered and useless. It holds it up under its body and uses the good one for everything.

Since chickadees open seeds by holding them with their feet while they peck them apart, this bird has a pretty tough time eating on the regular feeders. However, the mealworm block has hulless seeds along with the dried worms. It can just peck them out and eat them.

So it does.

I took a photo the other day when it landed right near my head when I as doing the feeders. Poor valiant little bird. How awesome is it that it got through the whole winter so far with such a great handicap? I named it Ein Footinger. 

The bad leg