Bald blackbird looking worse.

[freiston]

Some time ago (last May) I posted these pictures (in a thread about bald birds) of a bald blackbird that seems to spend most of his life in our garden:



Well the poor sod don't seem to be getting any better - here's a couple of pictures that I took of him today:


This is a bit blurry but you can see the state of his feathers:

[Kreacha]

Poor chap - he looks like a Skeksis out of the film 'The Dark Crystal'

[Anzu]

Aw poor little guy, Is this not a female blackbird?

[freiston]

It might be - I even have trouble 'sexing' humans sometimes

[Anzu]

Originally Posted by freiston

It might be - I even have trouble 'sexing' humans sometimes

lol

[Littlesparrow]

It might be the angle of the photo but it looks like his tail has come out, can he fly? I think he could have mites or ring worm.

[freiston]

He (she?) is able to fly - the recent pictures were taken when he was (1) about 12' up in a tree (telephoto lens & angle of shot/poise of bird makes him look more level to camera) and (2) on top of a recently cropped leylandii hedge about 6' up (taken from the house through the window). He seems to be less inclined to take to flight than his blackbird brethren - except for when they chase him off - which happens a lot. He's the one that will stay on the lawn eating when all other birds have taken cover. His feathers do seem to be getting in bad condition all over - and the skin on his skull looks worse than my worst eczema outbreak - so I suspect some kind of disease/infestation rather than just a hormonal/stress cause - but I'm really only guessing.

In reply to the disappearing tail - it is behind a tree bough which itself is blurred beyond recognition on account of shallow depth of field ( I call it bokkeh when I want to impress, lol).

Here's a heavily cropped picture that shows his tail feathers better:

[Littlesparrow]

Yes I see he has a tail of sorts.
We have a disabled chaffinch who has a growth on his foot, he staggers about the garden in the morning and can't balance on the feeder, I'm surprised the sparrow hawk hasn't picked him off.