Prelims: Current events of national and international importance
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Recently, the researchers studied how the woodpecker protects its skull despite its constant knocking of its head against wood.
Woodpeckers are a family of birds known for their distinct behavior of pecking and drilling into trees to find insects, communicate, and create nests.
Family – Picidae, which comes from the Latin word picus meaning woodpecker.
Habitat – Most species live in forests or woodland habitats, although a few species are live in treeless areas, such as rocky hillsides and deserts.
Distribution –With over 200 species spread across the world, except in the region of Australia, New Guinea and polar regions.
They are most abundant in South America and Southeast Asia.
Some of the woodpeckers includes Pileated woodpecker, Downy woodpecker, Red-headed woodpecker, Sapsucker, etc.
Key Characteristics –
They are characterized by their chisel-like bills for drilling, zygodactyl feet (two toes forward, two back) for climbing, and stiff tail feathers that act as props.
The birds hold the ability to peck wood 20 times per second.
Long Tongue – They also possess long, sticky tongues for extracting insects, its total length of the tongue is one-third of the woodpecker’s body length.
The surface of their tongues is covered with barbs that help in catching their prey.
Protect its skull – Its long tongue helps protecting the skull of the bird by wrapping it around the skull, thus protecting it from the impact and cushioning the brain.
There are also soft bones that lie at the front and back of the skull that spread out the area of the shock generated.
Drumming - It isone of their unique features used t0 communicate with each other by drumming against wood to make a loud sound.
Most species carve out their own nesting cavities in dead wood, bamboos, cacti and rotting wood.
Conservation Status -Woodpecker status varies, but habitat loss from deforestation and logging threatens many species.
