• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Male Blackbird With No Tail Feathers (1 Viewer)

I have a blackbird as a regular visitor, it's a male young adult, and it doesn't have any tail feathers at the back. It gets about OK and is mobile and feeds alright, but is this common or normal?
 
My parents used to have one visit their garden, with a deformed neck. They nicknamed him "concorde". To swallow food, he had to arch his neck right back. He used to share the cats food outside, which was nice and soft for him to manage.
He stayed around and survived for a couple of years until a sparrowhawk came along!!
 
Birds without tails are quite often seen, if they otherwise look normal its normally the result of a close encounter with a cat or fox. When it moults in late summer it should regrow its tail.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 17 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top