Juvenile Hooded Merganser Struggles To Move

The following story about a hooded merganser was shared with us by Carolina Waterfowl Rescue in North Carolina.

Was this juvenile hooded merganser the first of its species to ever ride a bicycle? Perhaps! In his account of the rescue, finder Robert was out on an evening bike ride when he noticed this juvenile curled up on the sidewalk. He approached the bird, hoping his movement would be enough to motivate the merganser to up and away; however, the bird didn’t move.

“When he did move he was struggling with walking,” wrote Robert in an account posted on his Facebook. Robert examined him, looking for any sign of injury but found none. When the merganser (named “Howard” by Robert) did finally attempt to take off, the bird couldn’t achieve much height and ended up flying into a parked car. The bird definitely needed medical attention, so Robert rode the bird home on his bike and contacted Carolina Waterfowl Rescue.

Once at our rehabilitation center, we examined this juvie and observed what felt like trauma in the bird’s right leg. Howard weighed 440 grams at intake (about 15.5 ounces). To get a better sense of the bird’s injury, we took radiographs and saw a clear distal fracture of the right femur, an injury that was unlikely to heal on its own. But, with some expert guidance from our trained rehabbers and staff veterinarian, we are still hopeful to return this beautiful merganser to the wild!

Under sedation, our staff veterinarian was able to splint the leg to the body. This will position the bones ideally for healing. In this critical stage, rehabbers have been tube feeding the animal patient EmerAid IC Piscivore and have recorded a weight gain of 22 grams (about 0.7 ounces) since beginning EmerAid treatment. With daily wrap checks, CWR rehabbers aren’t leaving Howard’s fate up to chance; it’s up to us!

Happy healing Howard!