Can anyone tell me what is stuck in this robin’s feathers and how those “foreign objects” got there? It was foraging for food in the grass when I observed it today in urban parking lot, Southern Ontario, Canada.
Those are its own feathers. Can be due to trauma or moult.
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yup. looks like just feathers in disarray to me, too.
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Thank you! I was worried about what had happened. I haven’t been watching birds this closely before so I’m learning.
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I have now subscribed to Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Birds of the World and looked up the molt of the American Robin. I couldn’t find it anywhere else. And the robin’s molt occurs late in the summer (July to September) so this robin must have encountered trauma. See article at https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/amerob/cur/appearance#molts.
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I don’t know if there is any parallel, but mallards get malformations called “Angel Wings” that look a bit like that. I can’t remember for sure but it think it’s caused by malnourishment from eating people food.
Here’s a mallard with the condition
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/105478603
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I agree those are the robin’s own feathers, damaged and twisted. They’ll probably remain like that and eventually be replaced during molt.
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