next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
previous message in thread
Index of Subjects
Index of Subjects Hi Gayle, I'd say there are two things going on here. The first is that when a Blue Jay lands on a perch, the tendon at the back of its leg automatically tightens, locking its toes in a very strong grip on the perch. This is an involuntary reflex action. While the feet are locked in this manner the bird will remain on the perch, even while sleeping. The second thing that is probably going on is the type of injury. I'd guess that the Blue Jay collided with a window or glass patio door at your niece's house. This probably resulted in internal bleeding/damage which gave the Blue Jay sufficient time to fly to the perch on which your niece discovered it. The fact that the locking mechanism I mention above was still holding the bird on its perch is unexpected but it had probably only recently died. All the best, Lance -----Original Message----- From: naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca [mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] On Behalf Of duartess@ns.sympatico.ca Sent: Friday, July 15, 2011 9:27 AM To: Naturelist Subject: EXTERNAL: [NatureNS] Odd Blue jay Death My niece in Toronto came home to find a dead Blue jay on her deck but in a perched position but with its head hung forward. She sent it via Facebook. I have never seen anything like that where a bird has died but remained in a natural perched position. Any thoughts as to how it might have died and why it didn't fall over? There were no visible injuries that my niece could see anyway & none that I could see from the picture. She thought that maybe it could have run into something and just died while, sitting, waiting to recover. Gayle MacLean Dartmouth
next message in archive
no next message in thread
previous message in archive
previous message in thread
Index of Subjects