Fowl Feet

by Charlotte Overby
photography by Jim Rathert

Think about your bare feet. You can tap your toes or bounce your heels. Your feet let you run, walk, dance or lounge around. No matter what you're doing or where you go, most people's feet are shaped pretty much the same. But that's not true for birds.

Some birds have three thin toes. Some have four thick ones. Some have sharp talons, while others have webbed feet built for swimming. Some have feet adapted for scratching around in the dirt. Other birds have feet designed for walking straight up the sides of trees. Birds' feet are adapted to help different kinds of birds thrive in different kinds of habitat.

Feet built for the highwire

Many perching birds, like the sparrows, cardinals or finches you see at birdfeeders, have tiny legs and thin feet. Some are so small that they hardly seem strong enough to hold the bird up. But they are much stronger than they look. They generally have four, slender toes. Three point forward and the first toe—called the hallux—points backward.

This arrangement of toes helps birds hop from branch to branch. They have tendons in their legs that tighten when they settle down on the branch. As the tendon tightens, it usually causes their hallux and other toes to close. This is useful for sitting on small branches and bird feeder perches or riding out a wind or rain storm.

Feet that scratch dirt

Turkeys, quail and grouse have strong, muscular legs and feet. That's because they use them constantly for scratching around in leaves and loose dirt for nuts, seeds and insects to eat. A large gobbler, for instance, may eat a pound of food at a meal.

Turkeys have a spur—or sharp bone—on the back of their legs that is usually about 1-1/2 inches long. Gobblers fight one another in the spring over mates and territory, and they often hit and scratch each other with these sharp spurs.

Feet for speed

Roadrunners live up to their name. They would rather race along dirt roads and over gladelike terrain on their long legs than fly. Found in southwest Missouri, they use their speed to chase after lizards and small snakes to eat. They have four toes equipped with long nails that help give them traction in dry or rocky soils.

Birds that are fast runners, like roadrunners and rails, tend to have bigger bodies than common birds you may see at your feeder. They also have longer, more powerful legs and fewer toes. Many birds adapted to fast running are not strong flyers. Some, like penguins and ostriches, can't fly at all. Ostriches have huge, powerful legs and feet, and only two toes!

Feet fit for water

Ducks and geese look funny when they waddle along on land. In the water, though, it's a different story. Thanks to their webbed feet, they can glide gracefully or swim strongly across the water. Ducks have three front toes connected by a web of skin. Biologists call this palmate. Pelicans and cormorants have four webbed toes, and biologists refer to their feet as totipalmate.

Webbed feet give birds more surface area to push against the water as they propel themselves along. They need speed and agility in the water to find food or get away from predators. People get the same results when they swim with flippers. It's much easier to swim fast and dive down in a pool with the help of a pair of flippers than with just your bare feet.

Other birds that spend time near water, such as terns, herons and other shore birds, have smaller amounts of webbing between slender, long toes. They use their feet and long legs for wading in shallow water and picking their way through algae and water plants.

Another variation is called the lobed foot. Grebes and coots have three long toes that have fleshy, round lobes on the sides of them. They have kind of flabby, fat toes that help them move well through water, too.

Feet fit for hunting

Eagles, hawks, owls, falcons and osprey are all birds that use their legs, feet and sharp talons to catch other animals and to defend themselves. In general, they have two toes in front, two in back. Owls and osprey have one toe that can be moved in a semi-circle; they can point it forward or backward. Many owls have feathers on their legs and toes, which helps muffle sounds when they swoop down to capture prey.

All birds of prey need sharp piercing toes to grasp small rodents and fish. Osprey and some birds of prey also have rough, scaly skin on their legs that helps them hold wet, slippery fish they snatch from the water. After catching a fish, an osprey rises into the air and hovers briefly to shake water from its wings. It also re-arranges the fish so the fish's head points forward, streamlining the load and making it easier to fly through the air.

Osprey need strong toes to accomplish this feat, especially since they sometimes fly with fish weighing up to four pounds—almost as much as they weigh themselves. Eagles are known to carry fish that weigh up to 10 pounds.

Feet that defy gravity

The key word in woodpecker feet is zygodactyl. This odd word describes the shape of their feet, which usually means they have two toes pointing forward and two toes pointing backwards. They use the positions of all four toes to give them leverage when they perch or climb up and down the sides of trees.

Brown creepers have three toes pointing forward and one backwards—each one equipped with sharp claws. They hitch up and down the sides of trees looking for insects to eat, and sometimes even perch on the sides of buildings. Both creepers and woodpeckers also have long, stiff tail feathers they bend down against the tree. This gives them a brace and helps them balance.

Can you match these feet to a specific adaptation? Feet designed for running swimming wading water (with long legs) talons for grasping prey small, tiny feet made for hopping and perching
2 Feet designed for running 5 swimming 4 wading water (with long legs) 1 talons for grasping prey 3 small, tiny feet made for hopping and perching