![]() The woodpecker’s capacity to absorb blows has even inspired a system to reduce concussions in sports such as football. By comparison, a typical human head injury happens between about three and 15 milliseconds. It's brief-just one-half to one millisecond. “Size is the most important thing,” says Gibson, an avid bird-watcher who documented her results in a video series.Īnother factor that protects woodpecker noggins is the limited time the tree and their bill are in contact, she says. The bigger the brain, the higher the mass and thus the higher the risk of brain injury, says Lorna Gibson, a professor of materials science and engineering at MIT who has studied woodpecker brains. Woodpeckers also have, well, a head for pecking.įor one, woodpeckers have tiny brains-just 0.07 ounce. ( Watch the incredible video.) Bird Brains In a recent incident in California, acorn woodpeckers stashed 300 pounds of acorns into a wireless antenna, disrupting communication in nearby towns. That allows for a louder noise while avoiding punishing impact.Īcorn woodpeckers of North and Central America have another strategy: They carve out individual holes into trees, each just big enough to "squeeze in a single acorn"-storage for leaner times, Jackson says.Īcorn woodpeckers must deal with birds of prey, greedy ground squirrels, and a hectic gathering schedule to protect their treasured acorn hoard. Some woodpeckers practice drumming (watch video)-a superfast pecking that attracts mates and defends territory-on a resonant surface, like a hollow tree. (See " Weasel Rides Woodpecker in Viral Photo-But Is It Real?") The tapping is also “usually done with glancing blows-not a direct hit-thus not so hard on the woodpecker," he says. When selecting wood, the birds usually target trees weakened by fungal decay, which are easier to crack, Jerome Jackson, a behavioral ecologist at Florida Gulf Coast University, says via email. There are more than 300 species of woodpeckers worldwide, and they peck wood for a variety of reasons: to excavate nest cavities, dig for insects or sap, or create holes to store food. ![]() But, he says, if pecking caused pain and injury, “presumably they wouldn’t be around for very long"-a hurt bird would likely succumb to predators. It's a tough one to answer, says Walter Koenig, an ornithologist at Cornell University, via email. The birds handle it better, though, so Weird Animal Question of the Week was pleased to look into Derek Halas’s question: “Why don’t woodpeckers get headaches?” Little Drummer Bird During election season, everyone can relate to woodpeckers: We all feel like banging our heads against the wall.
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