Lesser Scaup Released

On March 2, 2003, Nature’s Nursery (NN) admitted a Lesser Scaup (pronounced “scoop”). Luckily for the bird, there were no traumatic injuries. It was simply underweight and down on its luck. (The freezing temperatures we have had can make it quite difficult for some of the water birds to find open water.) That was also good for us because it didn’t require a long rehabilitation. You see, Scaups eat small aquatic fish and insects… LOTS of them! On a daily basis the bird would easily consume over 300 mealworms and dozens of live crickets. We tried to get it to eat some less expensive things like smelt and a specific brand of dried dog food that we were told they loved. Apparently this bird was not listening, because it acted as if those items were toxic.

When the bird first arrived, it was quite weak and lethargic. By the time it had been here a few days, it was getting quite used to the free handouts it received. Anytime one of us would walk past its cage, it would get up and stand by its water bowl waiting for more food to be dropped in. We quickly assessed the changing situation, and decided that the bird was now healthy enough to start looking for its own meals.

On March 8th, 2003, Donald Navarre, one of NN volunteers, took it down to Side Cut Park along the Maumee River and released it back into the wild. Although I am sure the Scaup was thrilled to be free… We think that a small part of it will long for those easy meals.