Broken leg

[Frank Hargis-IL]

About three weeks ago I noticed an ASY male with a broken left leg, probably from a fall while fighting. He would lay on the roof of my shop with his wings spread to keep from rolling down the slope. When he flew you could see his left leg hanging down. When he perches on a wire or the perch I have for the martins he uses his left wing as a crutch. I put mealworms in the feeder and he would lay down to eat. After about a week or so he started looking kinda bad as he couldn’t balance himself well enough to preen. A few days ago I could see that he was trying to grip whatever he was perched on with his left foot but was still using his left wing as a crutch. He also has started preening and looks good except for the bad leg. I have two Super Gourds on shepherds hooks about five foot above ground. One of them has a pair with eggs. This pair also claims the second gourd and defends it against others. About a week ago the male with the broken leg started landing on second gourd porch. The male from the other gourd would finally run him off but never was very aggressive about it. About three days ago the broken legged male attracted a mate and the other pair has given up on chasing them away from the second gourd. Today the female has started bringing in nesting material. He still isn’t healed but he sure has come a long way!

Frank

[Nanette]

I have heard that birds can live without a leg, it is good to know that they actually can. Thanks for the story!

[Courtney-NC]

Hm, I would be curious to know if he mates with a female and the eggs are fertile or not. I would think he would have a hard time gripping her back to copulate when he has one bum leg. Interesting. I'm glad he is getting better though.

[The Olsons]

Frank,

I am also glad to hear your male is doing better and found a mate These birds are so resilient and amazing....I once had a male with a bad leg; I do know know if it was broken or injured in another way. I was so worried about him because he had started our colony. He had a hard time sitting on the gourds when it was windy, but when his babies hatched he went out of his way helping to feed them. It took him a little longer to get in the gourd with the food, but he would not give up....By the time they were ready to leave the colony for the season his leg was all better Hope your little guy recovers fully and can fly back with his buddies at the end of the season.

Best wishes and thank you for sharing your story
Astrid

[Frank Hargis-IL]

Update on BL. Have noticed today that he’s starting to put more weight on the bad leg, especially when he first lands. Can see him trying to grip with the left foot when he lands on a wire. He’s still not putting full weight on the leg and still uses his left wing as a crutch but he’s definitely getting better every day. His mate is still nest building in the gourd on the shepherd’s hook.

On another note, we’ve sure had a bad day for martins here today. Rain almost all day with the high in the mid 60s. Have been feeding mealworms and they are really going after them. We see them taking them to the nestlings so hope all will be ok. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and in the 80s so if they all make it through today they should be ok. As of nest check day before yesterday we had 49 young and 136 eggs with several not yet started laying.

[The Olsons]

Frank,

I am happy to hear "BL" is doing better every day; that is great news I know too much rain is not good for the martins, just like not enough and that is what we just went through. I always have frozen crickets available for bad bug weather and the martins readily take it now and also feed them to the babies. I do thaw them out for a couple of minutes in a little paper bowl or put hot water over them and let them stand for a few minutes before serving them to the martins.

Your numbers on young and eggs look great and I wish you a continuous successful season and for "BL" to get all better soon

Astrid