Fauna Rescue Of South Australia Little Pied Cormorant

Late one Sunday afternoon, three young men were kayaking in the Port River near Adelaide, South Australia, when they found a little pied cormorant tethered to a mangrove tree by a line coming from its beak. They cut the line and contacted the local police who in turn contacted us. We met the rescuers and took the bird home.

At this stage a few centimetres of line protruded from the beak but no hooks were visible down its throat. We tube fed it Gastrolyte (a rehydration fluid) for the first feed, then “Ensure” liquid food, as we didn’t know how long the bird had been caught or what damage had been done. Each feed involved catching the bird by dropping a towel over it, with my husband holding while I fed it.

Next morning we visited our vet who checked the bird. He could feel no hooks down its neck and assumed that if there was a hook it would be in the bird’s stomach where it could possibly be eaten away. The line had disappeared out of sight.

For three more days the bird was tubed liquid food until it was able to keep down small pieces of fish. Over the next few days it regained strength and increased its food intake. [My wounds began to heal.] He looked ready to go!

After gaining a variety of opinions about the situation, we returned to the vet and requested an Xray to be taken to ensure there was no lead sinker left in the stomach that could cause a slow death from lead poisoning. The Xray showed a very large hook that showed no sign of corrosion in the first part of the cormorant’s stomach.

The Royal Adelaide Zoo veterinarian was willing to treat the bird. After finding not only one but two large hooks, he decided surgery was necessary and operated to remove the hooks and a quantity of line. Next day we brought home a very hungry cormorant that was most unhappy to go without fish for two more days and have his daily injections. He became so restless that we went back to tubing him liquid food to satisfy his hunger. He then progressed to frequent little feeds of small pieces of fish fillet and then to small fish again.

A week after surgery we moved him to a larger enclosure so that he could strengthen his wings. We sprayed him with water to encourage him to preen. A few days later his behaviour told us he was ready to go. Weather conditions were ideal so one of his rescuers met us at the St.Kilda breakwater and had the pleasure of releasing the bird which took off towards the Port River, flew strongly and never looked back.

Where ever possible we try to involve the rescuers with the final release so that they can see the rewards of their efforts. We are forever grateful to the vets and other people who support the members of our wildlife rescue group.

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