Buzz
Woodpeckers serve as the builders of the bird world. While other species craft their nests from grass and twigs, woodpeckers drill into the hardest trees to carve out space for their nests, search for wood-boring insects, and release sap.
These birds don’t require helmets or goggles to protect them from hard impacts to their heads or flying wood splinters. They have unique methods for safeguarding their brains and eyes from damage.
10. Woodpecker Brain Injury Prevention
Woodpeckers live a life full of severe impacts—literally. It's like a human running straight into a tree at full speed repeatedly; a woodpecker can strike a tree trunk up to 100 times per minute at speeds of up to 24 kilometers per hour (15 mph). While a human would likely end up in the hospital after just one hit, a woodpecker remains unharmed after thousands of strikes, averaging 12,000 per day, and can live for more than 10 years.
The forces from these repeated impacts reach an astonishing 1,000 G, creating immense pressure on the neck, skeleton, and face of these birds. It’s no surprise that scientists are curious about how woodpeckers avoid brain damage. It’s more than just a tough skull. Researchers have identified three key factors that enable a woodpecker to endure relentless head impacts: robust neck muscles, a flexible spine, and a tongue that wraps around the skull.
Researchers at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University studied slow-motion footage of woodpeckers, examined their skulls, and created computer models to better understand what happens when a woodpecker strikes a tree. The bone structure that loops around the skull, known as the ‘hyoid,’ functions like a seatbelt to protect the brain, while the upper and lower bills are different lengths, reducing the force impact.
Additionally, some skull bones have spongy, plate-like features that distribute the incoming force, alleviating the stress on the brain. In essence, the head and neck of a woodpecker work in harmony to keep the bird in prime condition despite its challenging lifestyle.
9. Woodpeckers Have Sharp Tail Spikes
Woodpeckers possess remarkable physical strength and climbing skills. Well-equipped for life on a tree trunk, their tails feature sharp spikes that penetrate the bark. As the woodpecker clings to the tree with its specialized claws, the tail serves as a third leg or ‘kickstand’ to secure the bird in place.
When a woodpecker forcefully pecks a tree to uncover insects or carve out a new nest, it can count on its spiked tail to form a tripod, providing leverage and stability. The tail spikes, combined with the bird’s uniquely adapted claws, allow it to maintain a strong grip or quickly scale the tree, preventing it from falling even in the most awkward positions or during intense hammering.
The woodpecker’s tail is especially striking when it fans out, revealing sharp points at the tip that contrast with the broader feathers higher up the tail.
8. Acorn Woodpecker Ingenuity
While most woodpeckers drum on trees to extract insects or create nests, the acorn woodpecker from the western US, Mexico, and Central America stands out as an exception. With its clown-like appearance featuring large eyes and vibrant feathers, this bird is remarkably industrious, living a socially rich life based on hoarding and reproduction. Acorn woodpeckers eat and breed together in groups, with multiple birds tending to a single nest during the breeding season.
These woodpeckers carve hundreds of holes in oak trees within their designated territories, filling them with acorns stored in tiny cavities. The birds guard their acorn trees, or “granaries,” collectively, since acorns are vital to their survival. When food is needed, the acorns are hammered out of the tree, leaving the bark riddled with holes from the large quantity of acorns stored there. In one instance, acorn woodpeckers used a stucco house as a storage site, transforming the doorframe into a scene resembling a drive-by shooting.
7. Ground Woodpeckers
Most woodpeckers are named for their habit of hammering trees to extract insects, draw sap, or build nests, which makes the name of the ground woodpecker somewhat misleading. With its eerie yellow eyes, earth-toned plumage, and reddish highlights blending into the rocks and soil, the ground woodpecker primarily searches the earth for food, not wood. These birds are found only in South Africa, Swaziland, and Lesotho, where they live in barren upland areas with rocky slopes, grasses, and boulder fields.
As the largest woodpecker in these regions, the 30-centimeter (1 ft) ground woodpecker (Geocolaptes olivaceus) forages among rocks and open spaces for its specialized diet of ants. While ants provide the bulk of its food, ground woodpeckers also consume termites and other insects. The bird’s long, retractable, sticky tongue is adept at reaching into narrow spaces to pull out concealed insects.
Male and female ground woodpeckers work in tandem, using their strong bills to carve tunnels and chambers into earth banks for their nests. Once the eggs hatch, both parents feed their chicks by regurgitating insects.
6. Zygodactyl Feet
Although birds are capable of flight, many species struggle to hop up a tree. Songbirds possess “anisodactyl” feet, with three toes pointing forward and one backward, perfect for walking, wading, swimming, or perching on branches. These feet are particularly useful for perching, as the muscles in the foot contract to prevent the bird from falling, even when it’s asleep.
Woodpeckers have a unique toe arrangement that helps them stay anchored while climbing. Unlike songbirds, which have three forward-facing toes, woodpeckers possess “zygodactyl” feet, with two toes pointing forward and two backward, forming a mirror image. As they cling to tree bark with their sharp claws and hop upward, their spiked tail provides extra support, preventing the bird from falling. This dual-toed grip and spiked tail also stabilize the bird as it strikes a tree with its powerful bill.
5. Sapsucker and Hummingbird Symbiosis
In North America’s woodlands, four species of woodpecker—the Williamson’s, yellow-bellied, red-naped, and red-breasted sapsuckers—drill small holes in tree trunks to extract sap and eat the insects attracted to it. These woodpeckers have formed a mutually beneficial relationship with hummingbirds. As sapsuckers drill to access sap, hummingbirds follow them from tree to tree to feed on the same sap.
In return, hummingbirds guard the sapsuckers' holes from larger birds attempting to feed, ensuring that the sap remains available for both species. While many birds enjoy sap, they lack the specialized beaks necessary to drill into trees for it.
Hummingbirds rely on nectar for essential nutrients. However, during their northern migration in spring, cold weather can delay flower blooming, resulting in a nectar shortage. Sapwells provide a valuable alternative, as sap’s composition closely resembles nectar, offering sugars, minerals, and amino acids.
Sapsuckers only drill for sap in the warmer months, typically spring and summer. Once the sap runs out, they switch to a diet of insects, nuts, and fruits to sustain themselves.
4. The Cactus Experts
Indigenous to the desert regions and surrounding areas of the southwestern United States and Mexico, Gila woodpeckers rely on saguaros—massive, tree-like cacti that can grow up to 13 meters (43 ft) tall and 3 meters (10 ft) wide—for both food and shelter. Measuring just over 25 centimeters (10 in) in length, these birds feature a brown body with a distinctive checkered back and red facial markings. Their diet includes insects as well as cactus fruits and berries.
With their sturdy, thick bills, Gila woodpeckers play a crucial role in the health of saguaros, helping by removing harmful insects and trimming damaged areas, allowing the cacti to heal.
Every year, these birds carve out new nesting sites. After Gila woodpeckers leave, their abandoned nests are often taken over by elf owls, rodents, reptiles, and other creatures seeking shelter. As human development expands into their desert habitat, Gila woodpeckers have adapted by drinking nectar from feeders originally set up for hummingbirds.
3. The Wryneck’s Magical Mystery
One of the most peculiar birds, the Eurasian wryneck can twist its neck, emit a snake-like hiss, and is scientifically named Jynx torquilla, alluding to the idea that it may curse or jinx someone. These two species of wryneck are small, resembling sparrows more than woodpeckers, and are known for their strange mottled plumage. Their primary diet consists of ants, which they capture using a thick mucus secreted from a gland beneath their bill.
Wrynecks, which nest in open woodlands and forage on the ground, are known for their remarkable defensive behavior. When threatened, a wryneck can twist its head a full 180 degrees, stare directly at its threat, and produce a eerily snake-like hiss. This unsettling defense led to the belief that a curse was being cast on the aggressor, making the bird a symbol used by witches during spellcasting. Now facing a decline in population due to habitat loss, the Eurasian wryneck migrates to Africa during the winter months.
2. The Flycatcher
First documented during the Lewis and Clark Expedition in the early 1800s, the dark, shimmering Lewis’s woodpecker stands out as a curious anomaly among woodpecker species. Native to open lands and park-like areas with pine or oak trees, Lewis’s woodpecker does possess drilling abilities, but it primarily uses them to create holes for nesting rather than for feeding on insects. Unlike other woodpeckers, it does not typically drill for food.
Rather than drilling into trees, the Lewis’s woodpecker often hunts for insects by watching from a dead tree or pole, then swooping down to catch airborne insects. During the fall and winter months, their diet shifts to include acorns, fruits, seeds, and various nuts.
One of the largest woodpeckers in the US, measuring around 28 centimeters (11 inches) in length, the Lewis’s woodpecker is an exceptional flier compared to most other woodpeckers. Its impressive gliding skill and slower wing beats give it a flight pattern that is more reminiscent of a crow than a typical woodpecker.
1. Sawdust And Flying Wood Chip Protection
Woodpeckers are equipped with bristles or soft feathers around their nostrils to protect against nasal damage. Along with these, special air sacs help filter out dust and debris. These adaptations are particularly beneficial when drilling, as the birds generate a significant amount of sawdust and flying wood particles near their faces.
The smallest woodpecker in North America, the 15-centimeter (6 inches) long downy woodpecker, has remarkably prominent nasal bristles that are proportionally larger than those of other woodpeckers. This charming black-and-white bird, with the male displaying a red patch on the back of his head, is widespread across the US, from Florida to Alaska.
Woodpeckers have a unique adaptation to protect their eyes from the flying wood chips created during drilling. A translucent third eyelid, known as the “nictitating membrane,” closes just before the bird strikes the tree with its bill. This special eyelid allows the bird to still see through it while also cleaning the eye as it moves across the surface of the eyeball.
