Book 4, Question 55
Why Do Woodpeckers Peck Trees?
Pecking is a toolkit! Woodpeckers drum to talk, chip holes to nest, and tap bark to find insect larvae hiding in the wood. It is a bird with many jobs for one little beak.
From the book
Page from A Million Whys Book 4
More fun facts
- Woodpeckers make tiny grunts as they peck, a lot like tennis players grunting as they hit the ball.
- They match those little breaths to their muscle movements, which helps them peck at a steady rate.
- Scientists found that pecking is controlled by the same kind of brain area that controls singing in songbirds.
- That suggests woodpeckers may learn their drumming a bit like songbirds learn songs.
- Pileated woodpeckers dig big rectangular holes to reach carpenter ants and beetle larvae.
- By eating wood-boring insects, woodpeckers help keep forests healthy.
- A woodpecker's brain feels a force 14 times greater than what would give a person a concussion, and scientists are still studying how much that affects the birds.
Sources: Science News Explores, BBC Newsround, Science News Explores, National Geographic Kids
Questions kids ask
Do woodpeckers make noise besides drumming?
Yes. They make tiny grunts as they peck, like a tennis player hitting a ball.