When I think of woodpeckers, I always say to myself, “All that pecking must hurt.” But according to recent studies, woodpeckers are not harmed in their feeding process.
Woodpeckers peck to get their food. They bang their beaks against trees to make a hole to get their food out. Because of how fast they sometimes peck, their beaks need to be very strong so they do not break, due to the impact of their pecking.
Not only do they have a strong beak to protect themselves when pecking, but they also have another technique that helps keep their brain safe. Woodpeckers protect their brain by wrapping their tongues around their brain to prevent it from moving when they peck. Woodpeckers and humans are different because humans cannot protect their brains in this way.
Scientists still are not sure if woodpeckers get headaches from all their head banging during feeding. Ivan Schwab is a researcher at the University of California-Davis, who studies woodpeckers for fun. Schwab believes that woodpeckers would avoid pecking if it caused, them injury, so it probably doesn’t hurt.
[Sources:
Simpson Street Free Press Archives; National Geographic
]
