Woodpeckers are some of the most familiar birds in North America. You’ve undoubtedly seen these birds hopping up and down trees and heard them drumming out in the forest. While they are fairly common are actually incredibly unique birds in terms of their habits and biology. In this video, I’m going to share with you five things you may not know about woodpeckers.
1. Their heads are crash resistant
Have you ever wondered how a bird that bashes its face against a tree thousands of times a day doesn’t end up with a brain injury? Woodpeckers have a lot of built in safety features that distribute force and protect the brain. Some of these include spongy bone and a longer upper part of the bill than the lower part. However, the most extreme adaptation is something called a hyoid bone. The hyoid is a bone that serves as a support for the tongue and for most animals including humans, it’s placed near the throat. For woodpeckers though, this bone actually wraps around their head, going all the way from their tongue to near their nostrils. This bone works like a crash helmet absorbing extra force and protecting the brain. All of these adaptations plus a few more that I didn’t even mention help protect woodpeckers from concussions and allow them to drum on trees to their hearts content.
2. They’re built for finding insects
While woodpeckers will actually eat a wide variety of food items, their primary food source is insects, and their primary way of finding them is by extracting them from trees. Woodpeckers are specifically designed for finding insects under tree bark and feeding inside of wood. They have great hearing and can detect vibrations made by invertebrates chewing and moving around underneath the surface. This allows woodpeckers to know precisely where to drill in order to find them. While this on its own is an amazing example of animal ingenuity, there is even more to it than that. Woodpeckers tongues are absolutely insane with some species sporting one that is 3 times the length of their bill. Additionally, woodpeckers have unique tongues that can be spear shaped, barbed or just generally sticky to pull insects and insect larva out of tunnels. Overall all, these birds are great at finding prey, drilling holes, and getting a meal with their amazing adaptations.
3. Drumming is more than just feeding
Woodpeckers certainly do drill holes to get food, but there’s actually more to the drumming noises that woodpeckers make than just that. These sounds which actually do vary based on the specific species of woodpecker are actually used for communication. What are they saying with these noises? Oftentimes it’s territorial, indicating that this is their space and intruders aren’t welcome. Think about this sound as similar to a bird song. Although woodpeckers do make actual noises, the drumming actually travels better than most bird songs. You may have noticed that sometimes woodpeckers drum on metal. This is because metal amplifies that sound and carries it farther away thus declaring their territorial boundaries to an even wider audience. Next time you hear a woodpecker drumming in a forest, know that its not just feeding but also trying to communicate.
They’re feet and tails act like tripods
As if all of their other adaptations weren’t enough, woodpeckers have more equipment that contributes to their way of life. First, their feet are structured with two toes pointing forward and two pointing backyards. This is known as a zygodactyl foot structure and helps them to cling to surfaces that are vertical. Offering additional support with their tree walking is their tail which is made up of stiff feathers. These feathers act as another point of contact with the surface of whatever it is they’re clinging onto, enabling them to fasten themselves in and locate food or whatever else they want to do on the side of that tree. That tail is also the reason that many suet feeders have an extra piece at the bottom known as a tail prop, thus allowing visiting woodpeckers to rest comfortably.
They makes homes for every other animal
Woodpeckers aren’t just impressive in terms of their adaptations, but they’re also helpful to many other animals. The primary way they do this is by way of the cavities they make. Woodpeckers are cavity nesters and will excavate their own nesting holes. These holes end up not just being used by the woodpecker but by many other animals once the woodpeckers chicks have fledged. Some of the species include squirrels, chickadees, other woodpeckers, bluebirds, nuthatches, and way more. With all of these creatures taking advantage of the cavities that woodpeckers drill out, it’s an understatement to say that woodpeckers are important in every habitat that they live in.
Woodpeckers are certainly unique birds and I hope you learned something about them that you didn’t know. If you liked this video take a look at another one of our videos on birds and birding and as always, thanks for watching, we’ll see you next time on Badgerland Birding.