I found an American Dipper with a mild case of this. The cause is being
investigated by a group in Alaska. You can report it here:
https://alaska.usgs.gov/science/biology/landbirds/beak_deformity/index.html
I have reported the Dipper, but have not heard back from them.
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Was just out for my lunchtime nature sketching at Al Larkins Park in
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Madrona and found a male Northern Flicker with a severely deformed bill.
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Both upper and lower mandible are curved opposite one another, with the
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upper bill displaying a jagged edge. He was perched at the north end of the
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park in the big maple near next to the red pine by a private residence.
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I can only imagine how this guy is surviving with a bill like this. It
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probably helps that flickers mostly eat terrestrial ants lapped up from the
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ground, but what about display drumming? This poor guy is probably on the
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bench.
John Riegsecker
Gig Harbor
jriegsecker at pobox dot com
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John Riegsecker