What is wrong with a Magpie with weak or apparently paralysed legs that regularly visits my yard for a feed?
Weak legs can be caused by a few reasons. The most common reason for weak legs in insect eating or whole body eating birds is incorrect diet. Vitamin B deficiency can cause problems with legs as can high levels of internal parasites. Many birds in urban areas are encouraged to be dependant on humans for regular handouts of food. Humans as a general rule like to feel that they are helping the birds and enjoy the company of these animals. They do not think about the long term potential impacts they can have on the health of the birds or they prefer to not think about it. Humans usually group birds into types that like to eat a particular food. Often we only see, or think about the obvious. There are often many other things that are being eaten that the general public is unaware of. For instance, the common Budgie is kept in a cage and is usually fed only a diet of mixed seed all its life, but the budgie also eats, insects, fruit, green seed and vegetation in the wild. How many humans giv
