If so, you may have noticed that they help you swim but are not really good for walking. The same is true with ducks feet. Loons feet are even stranger. They're webbed, like those of ducks and gulls, but they are very far back on the bird s body. If so, you may have noticed that they have two toes facing forward and two toes facing backwards.
Most birds have three toes that face forward and one that faces the other way.
Think about how these birds get around when they are not flying. They go up and down the sides of trees. Most tree-dwelling birds cling to the tops of branches, so they have three toes that face one way and grasp the branch, and one that faces the other way. Having two toes facing in opposite directions helps the birds cling on to the side of the tree better. By the way, these birds are said to have zygodactyl feet.