Strange question

[Drago]

why do so many pigeons in London have only one foot? Once I noticed this phenomenon today I started keeping a note, and I reckon a good third of them needed wheelchairs.

What causes so many missing pigeon feet?

Also there are so so many pigeons, it's unreal. They don't live long, so why isn't London knee deep in pigeon cadavers? Where do the stiffs go?

Trust me, there's a lot going on with pigeons that we don't know about.

 

[welsh dragon]

I often wondered about that as well as lots of pigeons in Birmingham have/had only 1 foot as well.

 

[Slick]

We do it to them by trying to discourage them nesting where we don't want them.

 

[Salty seadog]

Mostly the human hair urban pigeons use to build their nests.

I do my bit by having a skin lid.

 

[screenman]

Pigeon foot is a very favoured delicacy for Londoners, but also being a caring lot they never leave the bird without a leg to stand on.

 

[numbnuts]

Anyone who watches urban pigeons has probably noticed birds with injured or missing toes and feet. One of the most common problems that feral pigeons have is something we call “stringfoot.” Pigeons need twigs, straw or hay to build nests, but in urban areas, they are more likely to find string, wire and human hair. When they spend 12 hours of every day for 3 weeks out of every month in their nests, their toes become entangled in the nest materials, which leads to constriction, necrosis, infection, etc. If you can catch and untangle these poor birds, they can recover and survive very well, even with missing toes or stumps for feet.

 

[Mrs M]

Stringfoot
Caused by string like materials in the nest which wrap around their limbs cutting of circulation

 

[PeteXXX]

It's possibly because people keep telling them to hop it.

 

[classic33]

Check the area for hairdressers. The greater the number of hairdressers in an area, the greater the risk of damaged feet to birds.

Results of a recent study.

 

[Sharky]

They are all waiting for Simon to return, expecting him to say ….. "Now stand on the other leg"

 

[Yellow Saddle]

It is a good question.

It is caused by a type of mite. Mites are arachnids but these ones are small and infest the feet of birds and cause the deformation that cripples urban pigeons but also wild birds. I've seen wagtails with the same infliction.

It can be cured (but not the damage caused) with a wash of sorts. I would imagine it is the same type of treatment as that for mange.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

The pigeons you see in London are in fact retired pirates. Hence the missing limbs.

 

[Dirk]

The pigeons you see in London are in fact retired pirates.

I saw a one footed Jackdaw in Boscastle, Cornwall this week. It was definitely a pirate.

 

[pawl]

I often wondered about that as well as lots of pigeons in Birmingham have/had only 1 foot as well.

It’s probably only a short hop from where they live.

 

[PeteXXX]

We had a one legged pigeon in our garden a year or so ago, then it vanished. We thought it had met a feline death ☠
Maybe it packed it's bags, headed south, to see if the street of London really are paved with gold.