{"id":736,"date":"2026-05-24T15:39:03","date_gmt":"2026-05-24T15:39:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/bbc-wildlife\/?p=736"},"modified":"2026-05-24T15:39:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-24T15:39:04","slug":"weirdest-bird-feet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/bbc-wildlife\/2026\/05\/24\/weirdest-bird-feet\/","title":{"rendered":"Extraordinarily long toes that allow it to walk on water, bizarre lobed flaps and even bright blue feet. 5 weirdest bird&#8217;s feet on the planet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns fp-header is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns fp-header-copy-container is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column has-contrast-2-background-color has-background is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--lg);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--lg)\">\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center fp-category has-base-color has-text-color has-link-color has-graphik-font-family wp-elements-9a19e65666da189dc55a0e4b83b0aaea\" style=\"margin-bottom:0;text-transform:uppercase\">WILDLIFE<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center fp-title has-base-color has-text-color has-link-color has-merriweather-font-family wp-elements-0156eae537fadfbf89ab1d4713a3f204\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--xs);margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--xs);font-style:normal;font-weight:700;line-height:1.2\">Extraordinarily long toes that allow it to walk on water, bizarre lobed flaps and even bright blue feet. 5 weirdest bird&#8217;s feet on the planet<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center fp-intro has-base-color has-text-color has-link-color has-open-sans-font-family wp-elements-9a89d1557884db9d79d08a96d0dd2b81\" style=\"font-size:27px;font-style:normal;font-weight:400\">Bird feet come in all shapes and sizes in the animal kingdom &#8211; some of them are deadly, some not, and some of them are downright bizarre.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-base-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-base-background-color has-background\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center fp-author has-base-color has-text-color has-link-color has-graphik-font-family wp-elements-c0b6d3ab7acf0ae46b7d55a416591369\" style=\"margin-bottom:0;letter-spacing:0.3px;text-transform:uppercase\"><em>Words by<\/em> <strong>SHEENA HARVEY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center fp-date has-base-color has-text-color has-link-color has-graphik-font-family wp-elements-cddba926d5a241d5420012b77bbe08fa\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;padding-bottom:0;font-size:14px;letter-spacing:0.3px;text-transform:none\">May 24th, 2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2197623464-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"The lobed feet of an Eurasian Coot\" class=\"wp-image-747\" srcset=\"https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2197623464-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2197623464-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2197623464-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2197623464-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/flatplan-plus-content.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2197623464.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Ashley Cooper\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>All shapes and sizes in the animal kingdom are beautiful in their own way, but some of these bird&#8217;s feet look like caricatures drawn by a child&#8230;&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/birds\/weirdest-birds\">15 weirdest birds on the planet: meet the strangest wonders of the avian world \u2013&nbsp;including one that asks humans for help and another that smells like a cow<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/birds\/smallest-birds-in-the-world\">10 smallest, tiniest birds in the world \u2013 including one that weighs just 1.95g<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are 5 weirdest bird feet.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><strong>5 weirdest bird feet&nbsp;<\/strong><\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>African Jacana<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-1447470917.jpg?fit=1024%2C1024\" alt=\"African jacana walking across river lifting foot\" class=\"wp-image-164008\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Nick Dale\/Getty Images&nbsp;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>These&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/birds\/separating-fact-from-fiction-wading-birds-and-predators\">waders<\/a>&nbsp;increase their range in the wetlands of sub-Saharan Africa by employing their extraordinarily long toes, with equally long nails, to walk on top of the floating aquatic vegetation. The wide spread of their feet distributes their weight so that the plants don\u2019t give way under them, and their extended claws grip the stems to propel themselves along.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/birds\/woodcock-wader-2\">It&#8217;s called a wader but doesn&#8217;t wade \u2013\u00a0and doesn&#8217;t like to fly either. Discover the bird that&#8217;s regarded as something of an oddity<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Should they happen to fall in, they are good swimmers, and often employ that tactic to evade predators, particularly when they are chicks. But fishing and catching insects is easier while standing on a lily pad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Coot<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-1396896670.jpg?fit=1024%2C1024\" alt=\"The Eurasian Coot, also known as the Common Coot\" class=\"wp-image-164013\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Marieke Peche\/Getty Images&nbsp;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>If any feet look less like belonging to the animal they appear to be attached to, it\u2019s the appendages of the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/birds\/why-do-coots-have-such-weird-feet\">coot<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pale grey at the bottom of yellow legs and a black body, with curious lobed flaps surrounding the toes, they look like a child\u2019s attempt at drawing feet with a thick and clumsy felt-tip pen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But they serve the coot well because, unlike a duck\u2019s webbed foot that propels it through the water but leads to awkward walking on land, these feet work well as paddles but are also bendy on land so the bird can step elegantly and speedily along the riverbank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/dinosaurs\/duck-billed-dinosaur-mummies-wyoming\">100-year-old mystery of Wyoming\u2019s duck-billed dinosaur \u2018mummies\u2019 finally solved<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Ostrich<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-2259298813.jpg\" alt=\"A medium shot of female Ostrich feet, showing large and blunt talons with very scaly skin, standing in the mud of its pen, outdoors\" class=\"wp-image-163962\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">James Duffy\/Getty Images&nbsp;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>These large birds are unique in the avian world in only having two toes on each foot. All other birds have either three or four, depending on the species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/birds\/why-do-ostriches-have-two-knees\">Why do ostriches have two knees?&nbsp;<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/birds\/flightless-birds\">Flightless birds: how did some birds lose their ability to fly?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The toes consist of a large one with a nail that looks almost like a hoof, to dig in and gain purchase on the ground, and a small, bulbous one without a nail to act as a stabiliser.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p> Together they help to propel the ostrich forward at great speed and for long periods of time. It\u2019s not unusual to record the birds travelling at more than 35 miles an hour (56km\/h) for half an hour at a time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/birds\/biggest-birds\">It weighs as much as a piano and is nearly as tall as a basketball hoop: The 10 biggest, heaviest birds on the planet<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/tallest-animals\">Taller than a double-decker bus or longer than a lorry: Meet the 10 tallest animals on Earth<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Woodpecker<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-1389104270.jpg\" alt=\"Bird Fulvous-breasted Woodpecker Dendrocopos macei on white background\" class=\"wp-image-163968\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">dwi septiyana\/Getty Images&nbsp;<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Unlike most other birds,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/birds\/facts-about-green-woodpecker\">woodpeckers<\/a>&nbsp;spend most of their time clinging vertically to tree trunks rather than perching on branches or walking on the ground. Hence their specialist feet which, instead of having three toes that point forwards and one backwards, have two facing to the front and two to the back. This gives them a more secure grip on the bark to climb.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/why-dont-woodpeckers-get-concussions\">Why don&#8217;t woodpeckers get concussions?<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This toe arrangement is called zygodactyl and in the avian world it is only shared with&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/birds\/parrots-guide\">parrots<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/birds\/hawk-owl\">owls<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/birds\/facts-about-cuckoos\">cuckoos<\/a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/birds\/ospreys-facts\">ospreys<\/a>\u2013 the latter uses its two-front, two-back toe configuration to good effect in carrying a slippery fish back to the nest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Blue-footed Booby<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/62\/2026\/05\/GettyImages-522663988.jpg\" alt=\"Feet of a Blue-footed Booby\" class=\"wp-image-163975\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Arthur Morris\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The striking feature of this seabird is revealed in the name. While other birds might be seen to have pale bluey-grey coloured feet, this booby species has the most vibrant turquoise to aquamarine ones. Its feet are a good indicator of the bird\u2019s health \u2013 the brighter the blue, the more robust the booby. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is particularly important in male birds\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/deadliest-mating-rituals\">seeking a mate<\/a>, as knowing your chick will be inheriting good, healthy genes is the important factor in the female\u2019s choice of partner.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/rarest-colour-in-nature\">This is the rarest colour in nature \u2013 an expert explains why<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/blue-animals\">Blue animals may seem rare, but there&#8217;s more than you think. From sapphire to indigo here are 24 beautiful blue animals \u2013 including birds, frogs and even bees<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The males play on this fact and use their feet as a central feature in their mating displays, waving them about and strutting to show them off. The blue colouring is caused by carotenoid pigments ingested from its diet of fresh fish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These are the same pigments that colour a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/birds\/blue-flamingo\">flamingo\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0feet, but because of the particular arrangement of the booby\u2019s skin collagens, in their feet and legs they appear blue rather than pink.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/rude-animals\">It&#8217;s called WHAT? 10 hilariously \u2018rude\u2019 animal names \u2013 just try saying them around kids without a giggle<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.discoverwildlife.com\/animal-facts\/red-footed-booby-dorset\">&#8220;We just froze, it was so close!&#8221; British divers stunned as tropical red-footed booby lands on their boat<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bird feet come in all shapes and sizes in the animal kingdom &#8211; some of them are deadly, some not, and some of them are downright bizarre.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":149,"featured_media":747,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-main","category-wildlife"],"acf":{"article_authors":"Sheena Harvey","send_as_draft":true,"send_as_paid":true,"send_as_featured":true},"modified_by":"dgraham","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/bbc-wildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/bbc-wildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/bbc-wildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/bbc-wildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/149"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/bbc-wildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=736"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/bbc-wildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":853,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/bbc-wildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736\/revisions\/853"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/bbc-wildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/bbc-wildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/bbc-wildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/bbc-wildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}