The Tale of a Hobbly Heron

On July 13th, 2010 we received a call on our Wildlife Advisory Telephone regarding a young heron that appeared to have an injured leg. The young heron was brought to our hospital later that day. The heron turned out to be a nestling Green Heron!

As the caller described, the young bird did appear to have a leg injury. We observed for a moment as he stumbled across the floor, holding the leg straight behind him. Surprisingly, no fractures or dislocations were palpated on examination. We decided x-rays were in order and sent the heron for a quick visit with one of our wonderful cooperating veterinarians to determine the cause of the injury. Luckily, the veterinarian confirmed there were no fractures to the bird's thin legs. She suggested it was possible that it may be a congenital defect or infection but luckily for the heron, he did have sensation in his foot and leg and was able to grip. But, only time would tell if he would recover enough use of the leg to function in the wild.

We put the heron on a course of treatment including an antibiotic and homeopathy. Little by little, he gained more function in his leg and began to use it for short periods of time. After ten days of force feeding, the vivacious little heron began to eat small fish pieces on his own and was grasping branches for short periods of time. We began to offer him live killy fish and he quickly began cathing them one by one. After several days outside in a transitional aviary where he was able to test his flight and grip well onto branches, the Green Heron was ready for release!

On August 8th, accompanied by several staff members, the Heron was brought to the pond at Lloyd Harbor Village Park for release. The park was chosen as a release site because it hosts a large natural supply of fish and many low lying branches to act as a good vantage point for him to hunt. Clinic Assistant, Susan, held the heron to let him get his bearings and then in a flash he took off flying beautifully across the pond to a low Maple tree branch. We are thrilled that we were able to give this very young bird another chance at life in the wild!