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SALT LAKE CITY — Is ride-hailing becoming the mode of transportation du jour for birds?
On Saturday, a visitor on vacation at Deer Valley found an injured northern flicker and hired an Uber to chauffeur him to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Northern Utah to receive care, according to a social media post from the facility.
The woman who found the bird told workers at the facility "cost is not a concern," according to the post. The woodpecker took the nearly hour-and-a-half commute to the Ogden center, an at least $80 ride.
A photo of the Uber driver and bird after arriving at the facility showed the bird sitting on towels in a brown, leaf-filled shipping box with holes carved to let air in.
"Well, folks, we may just have the beginning of a movement going on here, thanks to Utah people … you ride-sharing organizations, well you can thank caring, loving people with big hearts for the increased and slightly more diversified ridership," the center said in the post.
The northern flicker was the second bird shuttled to the facility in the past month.
On the last weekend in June, a lesser goldfinch now known as "Petey" was discovered by a man who'd "had a few too many" drinks that day. The man summoned an Uber and sent the bird on its way to be rehabilitated.
