Photo, NJMC Recently, the double-crested cormorant, above, was stuck between wooden boards in an old tide gate in North Arlington.

NORTH ARLINGTON (June 25, 2009, 9:40 a.m.) — Naturalists with the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission recently rescued a double-crested cormorant who had its neck wedged between wooden boards in an old tide gate. The rescue is the third of its kind in nine months.

The cormorant is a large, dark water bird that usually has a long body and long neck. Its wingspan can stretch 50 inches and its bill is typically medium-sized and is blunt or hooked at the tip. The birds are not too dissimilar from loons.

The bird in question was rescued on the Hackensack River by the Saw Mill Creek Wildlife Management Area in North Arlington. The naturalists were already on scene conducting a fish survey when they spotted the cormorant, initially thinking it was already dead.

As the naturalists approached the tide gate, a press release states, they could see it “was hanging on for life.”

Gabrielle Bennett-Meany, Brett Bragin and Michael Newhouse, all NJMC naturalists, pried the boards apart, while intern Eleanna Ballas lifted the bird from its makeshift guillotine. Immediately after placing the cormorant in the water, it dived under and surfaced 20 yards away.

“I think the cormorant got stuck because it slipped off the tide gate while drying its wings,” Newhouse stated. “Cormorants have webbed feet, which makes it tricky to stand on wet wood. Fortunately we found this guy in time to save him.”

Cormorants often dry their wings by spreading them out wide.

Previously, NJMC officials received a snowy egret in Carlstadt and a red-tailed hawk just beyond Harrier Meadow in North Arlington.