Mallard shot in neck with arrow recovering as Newport Beach police search for suspect

A mallard with an arrow in its neck, seen by Newport Beach police Saturday and caught in Costa Mesa Sunday, is recovering.

By Sara CardineStaff Writer

March 28, 2023 5:08 PM PT

Newport Beach police are investigating an incident of possible animal cruelty, after a mallard was discovered Sunday near a Costa Mesa school with an arrow piercing its neck and transported to a wildlife care center for treatment.

Newport Beach spokesman John Pope confirmed officers first discovered the injured waterfowl near a lake inside city limits on Saturday but were unable to retrieve it.

“Our officers attempted to catch it, but it could still fly,” Pope said Tuesday. “That’s when it flew into Costa Mesa, about half a mile past the city border.”

An X-ray shows where a small arrow, likely launched by a handheld crossbow, penetrated the neck of a mallard duck.

It was spotted again Sunday morning near Kaiser Elementary School by Silverado resident Stephen Bull and his 10-year-old daughter, who’d been walking to a soccer game when they encountered the duck.

“It was hopping around,” Bull said Tuesday. “It almost looked like it was looking for help. As we got closer, we could tell there was something protruding from its neck.”

Concerned, his daughter followed the mallard and gave it small bites of food to keep its attention while her father called for help. Animal control officers arrived on scene and transported the duck to the Wetlands & Wildlife Care Center of Orange County in Huntington Beach.

Executive Director Debbie McGuire confirmed Tuesday the animal was being treated for its injuries after being put under sedation, so volunteers could safely extract the dart-like arrow.

About 5 inches in length, the object appears to have been launched by a small, handheld crossbow.

A mallard duck sustained serious injuries after being shot with an arrow.

“It came through the upper neck and exited out the cheek of the mallard — it was clearly in a lot of pain,” she said. “It was open-mouth breathing and likely would have died because it couldn’t close its mouth all the way.”

McGuire said the incident is not the first of its kind, as the Huntington Beach care center often takes in animals, ranging from common animals to birds of prey and even mammals, that have been shot with pellet guns or otherwise injured by humans.

The center last April treated multiple birds that had been discovered shot in Costa Mesa’s TeWinkle Park, while several more ducks were discovered in Fountain Valley’s Mile Square Park in August with their beaks sawed off and either died or were euthanized.

“Mallards are common, but most birds are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918,” McGuire said Tuesday, indicating state and federal Fish and Wildlife officials could levy fines and other punishments if a suspect were to be located.

“It’s just a horrible thing that somebody would do that,” she added.

The rescued mallard was seen by a veterinarian on Tuesday and was ambulatory and able to eat food once more, McGuire reported.

Bull, who got a call from the care center on Sunday informing him the duck was recuperating, said his daughter was glad to learn her actions may have made a difference.

“It sounds like he’s going to do well,” he said. “She’s pretty happy about this.”