Pileated woodpeckers (Hylatomus pileatus) are a common species of our region, but not a very common patient at all. In fact we’ve only treated 3 of these large, vocal woodpeckers in the last 7 years.
This young Woodpecker was found struggling on the ground. The person who found her was reluctant to intervene since he knew the parents were still around. He’d been watching over the previous week her early flights and learning to forage with her family. But when she was unable to maintain her perch on a nearby stump and fell to the ground, he knew she was in trouble. He scooped her into a box and brought her to Humboldt Wildlife Care Center.
Once she arrived at our facility, we found a relatively healthy young bird, slightly thin, who was unable to stand very well. Her left shoulder was swollen. We suspected that she’d collided with something. We started her on a mild anti-inflammatory and pain relieving medicine and offered her a dish of mealworms. We hoped the swelling alone was the problem, and considered that she may have also fractured her left coracoid, a bone that is part of every bird’s shoulder, which allows for flight. It’s developed far beyond the coracoid in mammals and other vertebrates. In either case, the prognosis for a full recovery was good, but a coracoid fracture would take longer to heal.’
Fortunately, the swelling in her shoulder resolved within a few days. After 4 days in care, she’d gained some weight, about 40 grams, and was trying to fly. We moved her to an outdoor aviary, where she demonstrated that her wings worked just fine.
Inside our large outdoor aviary, the young Pileated Woodpecker perches as high as she can get, out of reach of her human caregivers.
At her capture to be evaluated for release, after 7 days in care, her flight was strong and direct – exactly as a Pileated Woodpecker’s should be!
We took her back to where she was first seen. The kind man who found her met us there so he could see her release. HWCC intern Desiree Vang opens the box. Our former patient wastes no time putting distance between herself and her “captors”!
She immediately flew to the stump where she was found. It was obvious, that she recognized her old stomping grounds, – now that she’s two months old and all grown up!
After re-orienting herself to freedom she flew off into the woods – in a direction that her rescuer had seen her parents go just a few hours before. We’re confident that she was able to reunite with them for more time spent learning how to be an adult Pileated Woodpecker.
A last glimpse of this remarkable bird of the Northwest forests.
Right now, we are in the middle of the busiest year HWCC has ever had. We’ve cared for more songbird babies such as barn swallows and house finches, hatchling to release, than any other year. We’ve treated more skunks and opossums too. In the middle of it all, we’ve still provided care for individuals like this young Pileated Woodpecker, and others, who’ve run afoul of the buildings and machineries of the human-built world. We need your help paying for this year’s expenses more than we ever have. Your donation will go directly to the treatment and care for all our patients. It will also help us begin the repairs we need to make so that we’ll be ready for whatever this coming winter, and then next year bring our way. Thank you for being there for us in the past. We need you now and in the future too! Please donate today. Thank you!
all photos Laura Corsiglia/bird ally x
