A woodpecker's world

From tree-climbing downies to ground foraging flickers to sap-loving sapsuckers, woodpeckers delight and entertain us with their unique markings, fascinating flight patterns and distinctive drumming sounds. Here are fun facts to enrich your viewing of these dashing birds.

- By Monica Cardoza

Not one to hit a snag (a dead or dying tree), a woodpecker will instead grasp onto one. The soft rotting wood is perfect for finding insects and drilling a nesting cavity.

Northern flicker

MOST WOODPECKER SPECIES are tied to forests, woodlands and shrublands. Depending on the species, the fliers may prefer woodland edges (northern flicker), woodlands near water (downy woodpecker) or oak woodlands (acorn woodpecker), to name just a few.

Strong, dense neck muscles allow woodpeckers to repeatedly drill up to 20 times a second, while extra muscles in the skull act as a protective helmet by keeping the brain from jiggling around when a woodpecker is drumming.

Usually, the bigger the woodpecker, the bigger the hole it makes. The nesting cavities of pileated woodpeckers range from 10 to 24 inches deep, which is twice as deep as those of downy and red-bellied woodpeckers.

DRILLING VS.DRUMMING

Woodpeckers use their sharp bills to drill into trees to find food or to make holes for nesting and roosting in spring and fall. Drumming, on the other hand, is most commonly done in spring to attract a mate or to mark territory by alerting the competition.

Pine weevil bettle

WITH STRONG HEARING skills, woodpeckers listen for the sounds of insects crawling and chewing in the wood of a tree before using their strong, sharp bills to capture their prey.

Downy