We took this baby bird in today. It has an egg-tooth, so only a few days old. It has downy feathers. It has webbed feet and a very pointed, serrated beak. It was fond in the market place of a small north east town, a long way from water. It squeaks.
I know what it is. Do you?
Jan Edwards, Head of Animal Care
Farplace Animal Rescue - the no-kill animal sanctuary
Farplace, Sidehead, Westgate, County Durham, DL13 1LE
www.farplace.org.uk
It looks like a common merganser duckling.
ReplyDeleteIt has a sharp bill hook at the tip of its upper, which is used to catch fish. This is a highly piscivorous duck, so they have to be reared on a different diet than typical ducks. A duckling like that one will have a diet of water bugs and water beetles. (Maybe crickets and mealworms are a good substitute?)
This is a merganser hen with her ducklings. They look awfully like the duckling in the photo.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Common_merganser_small.jpg
In Europe, it is sometimes referred to as a "goosander."
If it is a different species of "fish duck," then I stand corrected, but I think it is a common merganser. That's my amateur ornithologist's opinion.
I have to admit that I thought it was a dabchick, but Jan said no. I then revised my opinion to that of a grebe, and she just laughed at me..
ReplyDeleteWe took Five common merganser's in. I found them running down a highway. It took us two days to find out what they were.. It was alot of research. Before I found out what they were we lost two. They dont eat seed or duck feed. They love mealworms. The three we have left are doing great. I wanted to know how are yours doing? I thought of getting crickets for them as well. Ours are five days old now. Bless their hearts they ran at least a mile down the highway.. I know I was driving real slow following them to keep them safe. Please email me back asap. diancamd3@hotmail.com
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