Blue tit with very long beak, Telford, UK (1 Viewer)

[Sim'llTwitchIt]

http://www.shropshirestar.com/2009/02/25/is-bird-a-darwinian-freak/

 

[Motmot]

I can see that's not the bill but some food or a piece of wood or who knows. Check this thread for an abnormal bill on a Blue Tit:

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=133214&highlight=Blue+tit+bill

 

[Jon Turner]

I notice that the article states that a Blue Tit with a beak like this would be unlikely to survive.... well, I trapped and ringed a Blue Tit in my garden in October 2004 with just such a beak - and I aged it as an adult (not hatched in the current year) female so it was at least 16 months old, and seemed in fine health.

Jon

 

[Sim'llTwitchIt]

Its 100% beak, it comes every day. he can eat nuts and suet ok.

 

[Motmot]

Then it is another BT with an abnormal bill (actually a strange looking thing!), like these from another thread:

http://www.birdforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=133421&d=1207512546

http://www.birdforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=115161&d=1196073564

http://www.birdforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=133334&d=1207495029

 

[Sim'llTwitchIt]

Thanks for info. I will try and take some better pics, only a compact lumix camera at the mo

 

[Fozzybear]

And all the female birds find him strangely attractive...

for some reason. ||

 

[katiav]

Long beaked blue tit? Oxford - South East UK

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I've had a blue tit with an unusually long beak visiting our feeders for the last 2 months. Although it sometimes seems to struggle with bird-cakes or fat balls, and prefers scattered seeds, it seems to be doing very well. Here are a few pics from different angles and in different position that I eventually managed to take this morning from behind the window...so , apologies for the lack of quality of the shots
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/katiavastiau/OurStrangeLongBeakedBlueTit?feat=directlink

Is this common? Is there some more info on those somewhere?

Katia (Marsh Baldon-Oxford-UK-South East England)
Ps; it's definitely 100% beak, I also originally thought it had something stuck in his beak but it isn't. My little boy thought it was a cross between a blue tit and a nuthatch or a spotted woodpecker : )

 

[katiav]

I was really upset this morning when our cat came back with the long beaked blue tit in its mouth : (
It was dead but unhurt and I reckon it found it dead or unwell, cause it never catches birds as it can't jump much because of an injury sustained when it got run over a few years ago.
Anyway, I've now had a good look at the long beak which is dark at its base like you'd expect a normal beak to be, and then extends into a nail coloured part.
I keep thinking I should give the bird to someone to analyse/look at but don't know where to start? Any thoughts?

Katia

 

[colonelboris]

I guess in couple of plactic bags (taped up) and into the freezer until someone can say who to take it to. Make sure it's well sealed as birds can carry ticks and allsorts that would make the next lot of fish fingers to come out of that freezer somewhat less pleasant...

 

[katiav]

Yes, that's what i resorted to. Thanks for your help.

 

[Mannix]

I wonder whether evolution is evolving them slowly to cope with the feeders we put out for them? Is it all our fault?

 

[myoudale]

i wouldnt think humans are the direct cause of this, from what i have seen and read this has been seen in a vast species.

I did read a theory which said 'This over growth of beak is something that happens in domestic birds and poultry and from the information that I have read it is down to bad breeding'.

There are also cases of Psittacine beak and feather disease (PBFD) caused by a virus from the Circoviridae family. It is commonly seen in psittacines, but possibly the virus could have some how got into other species.

I would be led to belive its a genetic problem more than and evolutionary problem. These individuals obviously carry come ressesive gene, and when mating this can easily be passed down through the offspring.

There has however been talk of the use of certain contaminants possibly altering the structure of the beak in Black-capped Chickadees

http://www.fws.gov/contaminants/OtherDocuments/Handel_et_al_2006_final_report_sm2.pdf - its a good read if you have some time.

 

[deborah4]

I wonder whether evolution is evolving them slowly to cope with the feeders we put out for them? Is it all our fault?

This has fascinated me for a while and I came across some interesting google articles sometime ago when looking at the possible causes of abberant bill growth in Herring Gulls. (including some interesting stuff linking aberrant growth with exposure to salmonella at incubation stage which isn't relevant here)

As far as Blue Tits are concerned, I'd be inclined to think it was linked to teratogens (exposure during incubation) in the environment or non-congenital dietary deficiencies/contaminants in food intake. Whether or not, artificial food provision is partly to blame remains open to question it seems:

Stuff on 'teratogens' here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teratology

http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cach...lls&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=7&gl=uk&client=firefox-a

As a way of explanation from the above link, so we have the language of discussion!
''The bill is covered with a horny sheath called ramphotheca, which covers the maxillary and mandibular bones. The chemical composition of this sheath is a protein similar to that of feathers, but its production is modified so
as to create the distinctive and varied bills that we see in typical modern birds. Ramphotheca is laid down in layers, like the skin of an onion, and continues to grow from the inside out. The outer layers die and slough off in normal wear and tear. Often, birds will be seen wiping their bills,
and one of the functions of bill-wiping is to clean off loose ramphotheca that
may have accumulated. Because ramphotheca may not be
produced at an even rate, bill deformities can occur. These may appear as
warts or bulges on the bill, but the most common type of deformity is an
"overbite", in which the tip of the upper mandible keeps growing well be-
yond the length that it should. This phenomenon may also result in
crossed bill-tips in species other than crossbills''

Whether or not it's our fault seems to remain open to question, however, I'd suggest aberrant bill growth would be a sign of not coping rather than the other way round!

There's been extensive studies done on aberrant bill growth in Black Capped Chickadees in Alaska to see whether bill abnormalities were linked to ingestion of contaminant Sunflower seeds and/or natural food. It's an excessively long article but very interesting study and mentions other species too, if you can be bothered to wade through it all!


Page 1
Potential Role of Environmental Contaminants in
the Pathology of Beak Deformities among
Black-capped Chickadees in South-central Alaska

p70
An important question that remains to be resolved is what is the source of the contaminants that chickadees are incorporating into their body tissues? Comparison of concentrations in sunflower seeds with those in adults, eggs, and nestlings suggests that chickadees are more likely to be accumulating these compounds from natural foods than from seeds provided at residential bird feeders. The most notable exception might be HCB, which occurred in detectable concentrations in about half of the seed samples, and
was detected in every adult, egg, and nestling, with associated negative effects on hatching success. Our data also suggested that adults were picking up lead from sunflower seeds at residential feeders. Suet, another common feeder food, should also be tested as a possible source of contaminants or growth hormones.

If you have time, try and read the whole article otherwise it may be understood out of context
http://209.85.229.132/search?q=cach...bill+growth+herring+gulls&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=11

For more info on HCB (a fungicide that was used to treat seed but I think banned in most countries now)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexachlorobenzene

 

[deborah4]

We crossposted myoudale! I see you've posted a link to the same Black-capped Chickadee study ... a very good read I agree although my understanding of the study is that it suggests problems weren't so evident in new born chicks but seemed to develop later and concludes that rather than being congenital the source of abnormalities were down to intake from independent feeding rather than incubation stage.

 

[myoudale]

I think from the individuals which were recorded as you said, very few nestlings had deformities with there beak, but however it was found that there was slight problems in a tiny percentage of individuals.

Also the pairs which did breed with such deformities showed very odd behaviour in the nest such as 'with eggs strewn erratically across the nest' this would in turn affect the breeding sucess.

Selenium, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs), and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) were all found in the birds with deformed beaks, however, as i read it as from the samples which they did on the sunflower seeds non of these showed any detectable concentrations of these compounds. 'Chickadees may be ingesting HCB and lead from sunflower seeds but are more likely accumulating PCBs from other sources'.

They did however find PCBs were ubiquitous in chickadee egg. Therefore, as you said, the diets of the birds during the winter could cause and increase in PCB's in the egg which in turn remained in the invididual causing bill deformities. As they didnt however state this was the case, the source of the PCB's could have come from anywhere, therfore possibly genetic or from another contaminated point source.