ONLY ON 3: Close call for weak pelican on busy highway

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Finally a bird story with a happy ending, but it didn’t start out that way. An island is a good spot for a pelican, unless it is the center island on MLK Parkway in Wilmington.

A young pelican found himself stranded today with traffic whizzing by. Finally, wildlife rescuer Jennifer Leonard came to the rescue, but the bird did not seem too fond of Leonard’s net.

He tried to fly away, but he did not make it too far. Traffic had to stop short. After dodging some traffic and finally making it to the other side of the road, Leonard finally captured the pelican.

“He’s malnourished, so his parents probably left him young, and he didn’t figure out how to eat on his own, and I’m going to be able to feed him fish from the freezer, so he doesn’t have to fight on catching them,” Leonard said.

Leonard said pelicans often are malnourished in the winter, especially young birds. She said he may not know how to fish, it may be too cold for him or he could just be plain lazy.

In any case, Leonard is ready to get him in full flight as soon as possible.