Curious. How many have seen birds with extras?

[Shezbug]

I was a bit torn about where was the best place to pop this question but I settled on Special Needs Crossing even if some of these differences do not come under the umbrella of special needs and are better described as a difference.

Just curious how many of you have seen birds born with physical differences, things like parasitic twins, extra feet, extra legs or wings, extra or single eye etc. are what I am curious about.

Over my life I have seen (in person and in pictures) so many mice, cows, sheep, kittens, dogs, frogs, lizards, horses, goats, and many other animals born with deformities of one sort or another or extra body parts (not sure which is the best way to describe this, sorry if I have offended anyone- not my intention) but never any birth defects of the mentioned sort with birds as I guess they are usually either tossed out of the nest or just do not hatch (extra toe on a chook or two is about all I can think of in birds) so it has piqued my curiosity on how common or uncommon it really might be.

I will share what prompted this curiosity a little later on.

 

[Pixiebeak]

Saw an extra leg on a newly hatched cassowary chick * i think( I mean i definitely saw an extra leg but but sure species long long time ago ) didn't last the day.

Saw a post with a quaker with an extra toe caused it some troubles with perching but is well loved and still doing great as far as I know. It was a Lutino like ( rare weird color not true yellow but close) male.

 

[Shezbug]

Saw an extra leg on a newly hatched cassowary chick * i think( I mean i definitely saw an extra leg but but sure species long long time ago ) didn't last the day.

Saw a post with a quaker with an extra toe caused it some troubles with perching but is well loved and still doing great as far as I know. It was a Lutino like ( rare weird color not true yellow but close) male.

Extra toes seem to be all I can think of seeing in the past on birds.

 

[Kiwi's Dad]

Extra toes seem to be all I can think of seeing in the past on birds.

Same here! I've seen a cockatiel with an extra toe but that's all. Not an extra but I saw a cockatiel with half of his face yellow and the other half grey

 

[Shezbug]

Same here! I've seen a cockatiel with an extra toe but that's all. Not an extra but I saw a cockatiel with half of his face yellow and the other half grey

The half half birds are so trippy to look at! I have seen a few pics of budgies who are one colour on one side and a different colour on the other side- perfectly spilt down the middle, it really is fascinating, I also really like the cats with eyeliner or shapes of hearts or moustaches

 

[Kiwi's Dad]

The half half birds are so trippy to look at! I have seen a few pics of budgies who are one colour on one side and a different colour on the other side- perfectly spilt down the middle, it really is fascinating, I also really like the cats with shapes of hearts or moustaches

I recently saw one at a pet shop!

 

[AussieBird]

The half half birds are so trippy to look at! I have seen a few pics of budgies who are one colour on one side and a different colour on the other side- perfectly spilt down the middle, it really is fascinating, I also really like the cats with eyeliner or shapes of hearts or moustaches

I posted a picture of a halfsider Quaker awhile ago, that was interesting to see!
I currently cannot think of any birds with "extras" outside of toes too.

 

[Pixiebeak]

I posted a picture of a halfsider Quaker awhile ago, that was interesting to see!
I currently cannot think of any birds with "extras" outside of toes too.

Post it again i missed that!

 

[sunnysmom]

The rescue I help with took in an English budgie with a wing stub for lack of a better description. The vet thinks it's a birth defect.

 

[AussieBird]

Post it again i missed that!

Pictures - Halfsider quaker!

Just came across this, it's a screenshot of original picture.

forums.avianavenue.com

 

[Kiwi's Dad]

Pictures - Halfsider quaker!

Just came across this, it's a screenshot of original picture.

forums.avianavenue.com

That's so cool!

 

[zERo/]

On another forum, someone had a green cheek conure born without eyes! As far as I know he lived normally.

 

[Shezbug]

On another forum, someone had a green cheek conure born without eyes! As far as I know he lived normally.

That is really not that uncommon unfortunately, it is also a less rather than an extra. I am specifically interested in extra bits as missing bits I have seen a fair bit of.

 

[flyzipper]

Today I learned the terms dysmelia, polymelia, notomelia and cephalomelia.

I'm curious to read what triggered the question when it's revealed.

 

[Mockinbirdiva]

Yes… spill the beans @Shezbug! I googled to see what I could find in abnormalities. ( so glad phones give spelling options so I don’t have to guess!). The most common was splayed legs including twisted leg bones. I had a green cheek baby that had a twisted bone that didn’t correct with hobbles. It was on one leg only but didn’t stop her from living normally. The guy that bought her had an affinity for disabled pets and was the perfect home. This was an “ in shell” deformity. I think this type of deformity is more common in kept breeding birds due to inappropriate nesting accommodations as well as inadequate nesting materials. Wild birds are much more instinctual in nest building and… ignore or kick out chicks that don’t have responsive feeding ( sometimes it’s the siblings that overpower the younger chicks)

 

[Sparkles99]

I've heard of halfsider budgies where they've the genetics of two birds & often look quite different depending on which half you look at. Wouldn't be considered a parasitic twin though, as it seems more like they fuse in shell. I've never seen one in real life, but they seem well documented.

Half-sider budgerigar - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Shezbug]

Not the best pics because this particular bird is still fairly new to our yard and is learning we are not a threat to it, it’s skittish so I snapped pics from a poor video I had to take from inside the house lol.

This superstar has two tails!!!!

 

[Emma&pico]

I’ve never seen anything birds with extras I wonder why you don’t see it as much

 

[Shannan]

I’ve never seen anything birds with extras I wonder why you don’t see it as much

I think it has a lot to do with the egg. Most of the reptile eggs are pliable whereas bird eggs are not leaving little extra room for any "extra" bits.

 

[Emma&pico]

I think it has a lot to do with the egg. Most of the reptile eggs are pliable whereas bird eggs are not leaving little extra room for any "extra" bits.

Didn’t think of that