When you need to talk to another wildlife rehabilitator or veterinarian, you have to make make sure you talk about the same thing.
A common error is that you call a bird’s ankle a knee, because it sits in the place where you expect a knee to sit. It becomes easier to remember if you think that a bird’s knee is angled in the same direction as a human knee. A bird’s knee usually sits directly below the body, embedded in feathers, so you do not see it when you take a picture of a bird.
Here are a number of pictures, so you can find and use the right name!
Translation table for the skeleton terms used in the images:
| English | Latin / anatomical term |
|---|---|
| cervical vertebrae | vertebrae cervicales |
| furcula (wishbone) | furcula |
| coracoid bone | os coracoideum |
| sternal keel | carina sterni |
| patella | patella |
| tarsometatarsus | tarsometatarsus |
| tibia | tibia |
| fibula | fibula |
| femur | femur |
| ischium | ischium |
| pubis | pubis |
| ilium | ilium |
| scapula | scapula |
| humerus | humerus |
| ulna | ulna |
| radius | radius |
| carpal bones | carpus |
| metacarpal bones | metacarpus |
