The Woodpecker is a bird of the family Picidae. It lives on insects obtained from crevices in the bark of trees or extracted from the wood by drilling with the beak and impaling them on the long tongue.
A woodpecker can peck on average twenty times per second.
Every time a woodpecker's beak hits a tree, its head is subject to 1,000 times the force of gravity.
Engineers have been able to increase the damage resistance of an airplane's black box by 60 times thanks to studying the anatomy of a woodpecker's skull.
Woodpeckers have a third eyelid which stops their eyes popping out when drilling into wood.
A woodpecker's tongue is up to 4 inches long (depending on the species).
To avoid traumatic brain injury, woodpeckers' tongues wrap around their skulls in a small empty cavity, which helps to cushion the blows.
There are some 240 species worldwide and can be found everywhere except Australia, New Zealand, Madagascar and the extreme polar regions. Most species live in forests or woodland habitats.
Woodpeckers can survive between 5 and 11 years in the wild.
Woodpeckers range from tiny piculets measuring no more than 2.8 inches (7 cm) in length and weighing 0.25 ounces (7 g) to large woodpeckers which can be over 20 inches (50 cm) in length. The largest surviving species is the great slaty woodpecker, which weighs 12.7–19.9 ounces (360–563 g).
The European green woodpecker is green with red crown and yellow rump, and about the size of a jay. The greater and lesser spotted woodpeckers also British species, have black, red and white plumage.
The tails of most woodpeckers are stiffened; when the bird perches on a vertical surface, the tail and feet work together to support it.
Most members of the woodpecker family have four toes, the first and the fourth face backward, and the second and third face forward. This foot arrangement is good for grasping the limbs and trunks of trees. Exceptions are the black-backed woodpecker and the American and Eurasian three-toed woodpeckers, which have only three toes on each foot.
Woodpeckers build nesting holes in the trees all the year round. Old holes often become home for other birds and mammals, such as owls, starlings and squirrels.
A group of woodpeckers is called a descent.
In ancient Rome, it was considered a sin to eat the flesh of a woodpecker.
Sources Hutchinson Encyclopedia, Softschools
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| Pixiebay |
Every time a woodpecker's beak hits a tree, its head is subject to 1,000 times the force of gravity.
Engineers have been able to increase the damage resistance of an airplane's black box by 60 times thanks to studying the anatomy of a woodpecker's skull.
Woodpeckers have a third eyelid which stops their eyes popping out when drilling into wood.
A woodpecker's tongue is up to 4 inches long (depending on the species).
To avoid traumatic brain injury, woodpeckers' tongues wrap around their skulls in a small empty cavity, which helps to cushion the blows.
There are some 240 species worldwide and can be found everywhere except Australia, New Zealand, Madagascar and the extreme polar regions. Most species live in forests or woodland habitats.
Woodpeckers can survive between 5 and 11 years in the wild.
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| Pixiebay |
The European green woodpecker is green with red crown and yellow rump, and about the size of a jay. The greater and lesser spotted woodpeckers also British species, have black, red and white plumage.
The tails of most woodpeckers are stiffened; when the bird perches on a vertical surface, the tail and feet work together to support it.
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| A black-rumped flameback using its tail for support. By J.M.Garg |
Most members of the woodpecker family have four toes, the first and the fourth face backward, and the second and third face forward. This foot arrangement is good for grasping the limbs and trunks of trees. Exceptions are the black-backed woodpecker and the American and Eurasian three-toed woodpeckers, which have only three toes on each foot.
Woodpeckers build nesting holes in the trees all the year round. Old holes often become home for other birds and mammals, such as owls, starlings and squirrels.
A group of woodpeckers is called a descent.
In ancient Rome, it was considered a sin to eat the flesh of a woodpecker.
Sources Hutchinson Encyclopedia, Softschools
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