Woodpeckers are Nature’s Drummers

How would you like to have a tongue so long, it wraps around your skull? Or be able to head bang without worries of a concussion? Maybe you’d like to become an awesome drummer? If you said, “Yes, please!” then you might like to be a woodpecker — if you don’t mind eating bugs, of course!

Woodpeckers are fascinating birds, with species on all continents except Antarctica and Australia. About 240 species exist worldwide, and 23 are native to the U.S., found in every state except Hawaii. They’re a diverse family of birds that live in a wide range of habitats, from forests and deserts to cities and suburbs.

AMAZING ANATOMY

Woodpeckers are very good at what they do. Hopping up a tree trunk is easy. They have zygodactyl feet, meaning two toes point forward and two point backward. This helps them grip bark and climb. Woodpeckers also have strong tail feathers that act as a third “foot” to help them better ratchet up tree trunks or act as a tripod when they hammer into a tree.

Their strong, chisel-like beaks let them break off bits of wood without a “hole” lot of effort (pun intended!). They hammer wood (up to 20 times per second) to dig out their nest cavities or find insects under bark or in rotting wood. Woodpeckers’ brains are structured to handle the force of hammering that would knock out humans and give us a concussion!

Their most amazing “tool” is a super-long tongue, which can be up to a third of the length of their body. How does it all fit when not in use? The tongue wraps under, behind and up the back of the skull, then over the top before it attaches to the base of the beak in front of their eyes!

WHAT’S FOR DINNER?

Depending on what they eat, different types of woodpeckers have different types of tongues. For example, flickers have smooth, sticky tongues to grab ants they hunt on the ground. Sapsuckers’ tongues have a brush-like tip to lick up as much sap as possible — along with the occasional insect stuck in the syrupy resin. Insect-eating woodpeckers can have barbs on their tongues to help grasp their prey.

Most woodpeckers eat insects and their larvae. At close range, woodpeckers can hear them moving around underneath tree bark or inside a fallen log. Some woodpeckers also eat spiders, fruit, nuts and seeds; others occasionally eat lizards, small rodents, or the eggs and nestlings of other birds.

MAKING A RACKET

Woodpeckers communicate by drumming. They hammer away with their stout bills on a structure (like hollow trees, metal gutters or siding) that amplifies the sound — the louder, the better!

Drumming tells other nearby woodpeckers that this territory is already taken, warning them to keep out! It’s also a way to attract mates. Many species stay with their mates for several years. Some, such as the pileated woodpecker, mate for life.

HELPING THE WOODPECKERS

Most woodpecker populations are doing well. But one threatened species in the U.S. is the red-cockaded woodpecker. This little Southeastern bird uses mature longleaf pines for nests, which it makes in living trees. (All other U.S. woodpeckers choose dead trees for nest cavities.) Their numbers fell dramatically when their habitats were overharvested in the late 1800s and early 1900s. But they improved from endangered to threatened in 2024, thanks to 50 years of conservation efforts, like placing cavity boxes in large pine trees.

You can help woodpeckers by providing food, water or shelter. Many species come to feeders, and a favorite food is peanuts (unsalted). Our local red-bellied woodpeckers also eat raw sunflower seeds and millet we scatter on the ground for sparrows and doves.

Nest boxes are also a great way to provide homes for some woodpeckers. Many, including red-headed, hairy and downy woodpeckers, will use artificial nest boxes with specific dimensions. Northern flickers and red-headed woodpeckers are more likely to use nest boxes stuffed with untreated wood shavings. Try installing a box this spring or putting out some food for your neighborhood woodpeckers. They “wood” appreciate it!

Fast Facts: Woodpeckers

The last confirmed sighting of the ivory-billed woodpecker in the wild was in Louisiana in 1944, leading many ornithologists (bird scientists) to believe they had gone extinct. But unconfirmed sightings in the early 2000s in Arkansas and Florida and in 2022 in Louisiana might mean a few still survive.\

The cartoon character Woody Woodpecker was inspired by the noisy antics of the acorn woodpecker, though Woody looks more like a pileated woodpecker.

One species called Lewis’s woodpecker catches most of the insects it eats in the air.

The Spanish word for woodpecker is pájaro carpintero, which means “carpenter bird.”

Pileated woodpeckers are the largest woodpeckers in the U.S. They love to eat wild grapes.