Injured Seabird Goes to ER, Pecks on Door

An injured seabird sought help by pecking at the door of an emergency room at a hospital in Germany until medical staff noticed it and called firefighters to help with its rescue. The cormorant, a shiny black waterbird, had a triple fishing hook stuck in its beak when it made its presence known at the glass door of the Klinikum Links der Weser hospital in the northern city of Bremen on Sunday, reports the AP. In a joint effort, medical staff and firefighters removed the fishhook and treated the wound, the Bremen fire department said in a statement. The bird was later released back into nature on the grounds of the hospital park.

"When an injured cormorant does approach humans, it is usually an animal in extreme distress that has lost its natural shyness," the statement said. A cormorant is a large bird with a long neck, wedge-shaped head, and a distinctive sharp beak with a hooked tip. A fishhook in the bird's beak would be extremely dangerous for the animal. Infections, pain and even starvation are possible, the fire department said.