Interesting Facts About Woodpeckers

3 minutes

This is a bird that, in order to feed itself, it uses its beak to strike trees, from where it gets the larvae and worms that it eats. Today, we'll tell you more interesting facts about woodpeckers, which live in Europe, Central America and, above all, in South America.

Last update: 23 January, 2021

This animal was a part of many a childhood thanks to this very famous cartoon. Today, you can spot these birds in many regions of the world, and we want to bring you closer so that you can discover how hardworking they are. Are you ready to learn some interesting facts about woodpeckers?

The woodpecker

Features

Woodpeckers come in different sizes that can vary between approximately 8 and 23 inches. Their feather colors are bright green, purple, and orange, although there may be exceptions and other shades.

Their beak is strong, obviously, because of their great passion for drilling trees or other types of wood they find. They have four toes on their feet – two that go forward and two that go backward.

Food

Basically, these birds feed on worms and larvae. This is one of the reasons why they peck at trees, since many of these hide under tree bark. Their favorite food is ant larvae and termites. So, if there are termites in your house, now you know, you just need a woodpecker in your life!

Different types of woodpeckers

Among woodpeckers, there are several varieties, which differ in shape, color, and even in some behavior. These are some of them:

Green-barred woodpecker
Ivory-billed woodpecker
Yellow-browed woodpecker
Checkered woodpecker
White-bellied piculet
White woodpecker
Cream-backed woodpecker
Imperial woodpecker
Magellanic woodpecker

You can find them throughout the South American region, although there are many specimens in Central America and Europe.

Interesting facts about woodpeckers

To know even more about these peculiar animals, we want to tell you some interesting facts about woodpeckers. Stick around!

Blows with the beak: Woodpeckers are capable of making around 15 beak blows to a tree in a single second. That’s why the rattling we hear when there’s one around is so characteristic.
Their nostrils and tongue are connected to the brain. This serves as a kind of cushion to prevent damage while pecking.
Their heads reach the speed of a bullet while searching for food.
The skulls of woodpeckers are thicker than that of other birds. As a sample of nature’s wisdom, their skulls protect their brains from the blows.
They need a great amount of food. Woodpeckers seek food for themselves and their families. In fact, they may even share it with other birds nearby. This requires a great deal of energy, so they need to consume at least 900 or 1000 larvae.
Woodpeckers can peck about 12,000 times a day.
The blows to its head when it pecks are 1,000 times greater than the force of gravity.
The acorn woodpecker species saves food for the winter. It feeds on acorns, so it can spend spring and summer storing them. It stores its acorns in trees, where it pecks until it makes a hole. The funny thing is that it only keeps one acorn in each tree.
Woodpeckers are brave. Sometimes snakes and other predators try to enter their holes to steal their eggs or eat their young. But woodpeckers don’t flinch. Rather, they fight even if it means putting their life on the line, and they don’t stop until the predator flees.

As you can see, there are very interesting animals in nature that teach us important lessons. In this case, the woodpecker shows us the advantages of being hardworking, foresighted, and caring for one’s own. Who can deny that nature is wise?