At the Ridgefield NWR, Nov. 9, 2015, I ended a loop of the auto tour at the main parking area and spotted this Western Scrub Jay on a sign. I took some frames since the bird was cooperative. When I got home and viewed the shots on a monitor, I noticed the bird has a deformed lower mandible–extending way past the upper bill. What is interesting is that in September of 2011, I took a shot of a different scrub jay with the same deformity, in the same exact spot–near the main office. Below is the shot from 4 years ago. It could be that these two birds are related and the deformity was passed down. Fortunately, birds can survive like this–they just need to adapt. If either mandible was broken off and too short, that might be a different story.
Posted shot info: Canon 5D Mark III, 1/1250, f4, ISO 800, 500mm, 8:54 a.m.
Info on the shot below: Canon 7D, 1/1600, f5.6, ISO 640, 400mm, 28Sep2011.
