Duckling with broken bill

[Words]

I saw this young duck at a local pond today. It was swimming around happily, drinking, and clambering on to the grassy bank to feed. All told it seemed to be doing very well despite a severe lack of a bill.

I've no idea what caused it (or whether it will grow back in time?).

[Phoebe]

Oh dear that does look dreadful, I don't know if they can re-grow their bill but I hope so. The poor thing!

[Amoeba]

Sadly it might be missing chunks of bone from both upper and lower jaws too so it may not re-grow.

[valleyforge]

I'm afraid that a bill with that extent of damage won't ever regrow ... but a prosthetic (resin) one could possibly be made and fitted to allow it to feed more easily.

Would be best to contact the local wildlife rescue organization to see if they could/would take it into care.

[Picidae]

It looks like an adult female mallard to me rather than a duckling. It appears to have broken off at the cartilage rather than the nasal bone, so some protein regrowth is possible maybe but certainly not to the full length. She will have more trouble preening and waterproofing her feathers than eating I suspect although ducks need special plates in their beaks for filtering invertebrates from the water. (She will also have difficulty when it comes to natural selection and with feeding any chicks as well as fighting off any intruders). May be worth trying to keep an eye on her, she may need to be taken into care.

See I cross posted with VF!

[jaykay]

ah bless, poor thing, keep us up to speed with what happens, would love to see someone sort it an artificial one (if that was the only option of course!)

[Lance Morgan]

I wonder what sort of trauma could have caused this?
I don't think she will live very long being unable to dabble or feed properly and she will be more prone to infection etc. She needs to be captured and taken into care if she is to stand any chance at all.
Great Pity

[valleyforge]

Originally Posted by Lance Morgan

I wonder what sort of trauma could have caused this?

Unless someone knows of crocodile or alligator infested duck ponds around East Sussex, I'd expect this sort of injury to be most likely inflicted by a terrier, or such like.

[EyeSpy]

Could it not have flown into something (although that kind of impact would probably have killed it)?

[valleyforge]

Originally Posted by EyeSpy

Could it not have flown into something (although that kind of impact would probably have killed it)?

Unlikely to have been due to a collision in flight EyeSpy ... as you rightly conjecture, a forward force sufficient to shatter the bill would most likely also
cause fracture of the skull and/or neck vertebrae, most probably resulting in death.

In the photo, the bird appears so bright-eyed that there's no obvious sign of a recent concussion.