the.com/woodpecker
a bird that headbangs 12,000 times a day and somehow never gets a concussion
means A bird that drums and hammers its beak into tree trunks to find insects, excavate nests, and announce its territory.
from A plain English compound, exactly what it says on the tin: 'wood' plus 'pecker,' the bird that pecks at wood. 'Wood' goes back to Old English 'wudu,' and 'peck' is a medieval English verb (a likely variant of 'pick'). The straightforward 'woodpecker' name took hold a few centuries ago; earlier English speakers had also called the bird names like 'woodspeck' and the wonderful 'yaffle' for the green woodpecker, an imitation of its laughing call.
- impact force
- strikes wood at 1,200 g without brain damage
- tongue length
- wraps around its own skull for cushioning
- peck speed
- head moves 15 miles per hour at contact
- daily count
- up to 12,000 strikes every single day
- built-in goggles
- a third eyelid keeps eyeballs from popping out
pileated woodpecker — north american species with distinctive red crest, largest woodpecker in us except ivory-billed
acorn woodpecker — california and southwestern us species that stores thousands of acorns in 'granary trees'
great spotted woodpecker — european species, most common woodpecker across eurasia with black and white plumage