Blue Ridge Wildlife Center recently took in an adult red-headed woodpecker found on the ground, unable to fly, after a suspected vehicle collision. During the initial exam, the veterinary team noted potential fractures that needed to be verified with a radiograph, according to a Patient of the Week release from the center in Boyce. The majority of wild patients cared for at the wildlife center arrive after some type of trauma and require an x-ray for diagnosis, according to the release.
However, with patients that range from 1 gram to 50 pounds, medical staff gets creative positioning them on the table. Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack | All Of Our Podcasts Radiographs confirmed bilateral coracoid fractures for the red-headed woodpecker. Coracoids are symmetrical bones of the shoulder found in all vertebrates except mammals.
In birds, this bone is connected to the shoulder and the keel, or breastbone. People are also reading..
. “Luckily, both fractures were well-aligned and close to the keel and we are hopeful that this bird will recover fully with strong pain medications and cage rest,” according to the release. Unlike other woodpecker species in Virginia, the red-headed is sexually monomorphic, meaning plumage in males and females is the same and cannot be differentiated between.
Although many Virginia woodpeckers feature a combination of red, white and black plumage, this species is the only one with an entire.
