Blue Ridge Wildlife Center Patient of the Week: Pileated Woodpecker

This female Pileated woodpecker came into care this week after a suspected vehicle collision.

She was having difficulty breathing due to bleeding in the lungs and she was suffering from head trauma. After 24 hours on oxygen support, this bird improved in demeanor and breathing.

Pileated woodpeckers are the largest woodpecker species in North America, with females reaching over 14oz in weight, 19 inches long, with a wingspan of 30 inches!

The majority of their diet is made up of insects, typically found in dead trees. Pileated woodpeckers leave rectangular holes in the trees that other birds later use as nests.

Woodpeckers have special and fascinating anatomy—they have extremely strong, chisel-like beaks designed for high-impact drilling.

Also, their tongues are incredibly long (almost a third of their body length) with barbed edges to help the reach deep into drilled holes to pull out tasty insects!

Check out this video, which shows the patient boring holes into a dead log in search of wood-boring insects, like grubs and ants.

This illustration by Denise Takahashi depicts a great example of a woodpecker’s hyoid apparatus, the cartilage and bone that support the tongue. In woodpeckers, the hyoid curves all the way around the back of the skull so they have plenty of room to store their long tongues!

We are happy to report that after a week in pre-release caging, this patient fully recovered and was released!

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