Woodpeckers

Alex Re

Hello, welcome to on wildlife. I'm your host, Alex Re, on this podcast, we bring the wild to you, we take you on a journey into the life of a different animal every week. And I guarantee you, you're gonna come out of here knowing more about your favorite animal than you did before. I'm so excited for this week's episode, because I'm going to be talking about an animal that you may not have seen up close. But you've probably heard before. So grab your binoculars because we're going to be looking into the trees to talk about birds that have some pretty unconventional ways of getting their food, woodpeckers.

There's around 180 different species of woodpeckers, and they can be found almost anywhere in the world, but they're most abundant in South America and Southeast Asia. And as you probably know, they're also found in North America and Europe. But what's really interesting is that they're completely absent in Australia, New Zealand and New Guinea. Most woodpeckers are resident, meaning that they stay in the same place all year round. But in North America, they migrate south for the winter like a lot of other birds. woodpeckers have a range of sizes due to their large number of species. The biggest woodpecker is the Imperial woodpecker, which is native to Mexico, and it can grow to be around 23 and a half inches long. And the smallest woodpecker is the downy woodpecker, which can be found in North America. And their length is around five and a half to seven inches. woodpeckers are of course famous for their packing high up in trees, or on the side of your house. And we call this pecking sound that they make drumming, and they actually spend most of their lives in trees searching for food. But besides that, there are multiple other reasons why woodpeckers Peck and I'm going to talk about that later on in the episode. And unfortunately, they don't really live for that long. their lifespan is around four to 12 years, although larger species usually live longer. woodpeckers are omnivores, so they eat a wide variety of different plants and animals. And some of the most common things that they like to eat are insects, berries, nuts and seeds. But most woodpeckers are really specialized in eating insects. Some woodpeckers are called SAP suckers, which is just as the name implies, they feed on tree sap during the right seasons. But they're not picky because if an insect that's attracted by the sap flies by, it'll lead that insect to. There are also ground feeding woodpeckers, which eat ants and other insects by digging through the dirt. But the majority of woodpeckers like to climb high end trees to search for insects. And they use this technique called spiraling, which means they circle around the tree holding on with just their feet. woodpeckers don't really have a strong sense of smell. So how do they find their food? Well, they really use sound to their advantage. They have a great sense of hearing, and they can listen to the slightest movement of insects under the bark of a tree. Once they found their prey hiding, they need a way to extract it. And this is where the packing comes in. Their bills are really long and sharp. And they make for the perfect tool to drill through trees. They can peck at a tree at over 25 miles per hour. And you would think that woodpeckers get concussions frequently from all this drumming, especially at that speed, but you would be wrong. They have really thick skulls and strong neck muscles that allow them to repeatedly hit trees without causing internal damage. And scientists have found that their beaks are really good at absorbing these constant blows for a few reasons. The outer layer of their beak is made of keratin like most bird beaks, but the edges of the beak are arranged in a zigzag pattern, which isn't typical for birds. And this pattern actually helps the beak be more flexible and absorb some of the hits that the beak makes. And not only that, but the middle layer of the beak has more holes inside of it than most other bird beaks, which also makes it more absorbent. And they also avoid getting any kind of debris in their eyes because they have an extra eyelid that they can close whenever they're drilling for food. Now imagine you're high in a tree and you see an insect deep in the hole that you just drilled. You would need a tool to get it out. And believe it or not, their tongues are the most important tool for the job. The tongue of woodpecker varies between species and it's also dependent on what they eat. But most species tongs are long and have Barb's and they also have sticky saliva to make sure that the insect is trapped. Once the tongue finds the insect, it curls around it and stores it in the back of their head between the skull and the skin. And this is just insane. their tongues are so long that they have to be stored by being wrapped around Their skull. And woodpeckers also have to have a really tight grip on the trees that they're standing on. And in order to keep this grip, woodpeckers have a really unique trait, their toes, woodpeckers have two forward facing toes and one facing backwards. Whereas most birds actually have four toes, three facing forward and one facing backwards. This is called a zygo dactyl foot, and it enables them to easily climb and grip trees. And what's really amazing is that their tails also help them climb trees. Because their tail feathers are extremely stiff, they can press the tail against the tree as an extra support. But as I said at the beginning of the episode, woodpeckers use pecking for more than just finding food. So we're going to talk about that after the break.

Okay, time for a trivia question. And this one's open ended. How many major tectonic plates are there on earth?

The answer is seven, and they fit together just like a giant puzzle.

Like most other bird species, woodpeckers are sexually dichromatic, meaning that there are distinct differences in their feather colors between male and female. Take, for example, the pileated woodpecker, arguably the most identifiable species on the eastern side of the United States and Canada. From afar, the difference between the sexes can be difficult to see. They're relatively the same size. They're both black and white, and they all have a red head. But when you look up close, you can see the male has what is called a red malar, which looks just like a mustache. It runs from his beak to just past his eye. Not only that, but the male's red feathers on his head extend all the way down to his beak, whereas the females red feathers stop just above her eye. Male birds tend to be more colorful in order to attract a mate. But for woodpeckers, one of the most important things is not their feathers, but their drumming. Their drumming can be a territorial behavior as a way to tell other woodpeckers not to come into their area. But it can also be used to attract a mate. And this is because woodpeckers aren't songbirds, they can't seem to attract a mate, they have to use their drumming sound, and the drumming tends to begin in February or March just before the breeding season. And their drumming is one of the reasons why woodpeckers prefer to live in open Woods rather than a thick forest. When you're in a dense forest, your sound gets muffled out by the trees. But when you're in an open space, your sound can travel a lot farther. woodpeckers really want their drumming to be heard by other individuals of the same species, when their drumming is loud and produce for a long time. This is a way for a male woodpecker to show females that he's strong and has good genes. Basically, like guys at the gym trying to have a push up contest. And they might draw on your house because it has really good acoustics and can be heard from further away. woodpeckers are primarily monogamous. And there are even some species like the red cockade woodpecker, who actually have individuals that aren't the parents that help with raising the offspring. Some of the things that they help with are feeding the young, incubating the eggs and protecting the eggs from different predators. The helpers are usually on the younger side. But what's interesting about this is that they don't get to mate with the female. It seems like they're doing free work for the male and female that do get to mate. But there is something in it for them. Most of the helpers are actually related to the male, which means that even if they don't get to meet, some of their genes will still be getting passed down. Another reason that they might be inclined to help raise the offspring is that if the male that they're helping leaves or dies, they may have the opportunity to take his place during the next mating season. And this is actually really great for woodpecker populations, because they found that with helpers, they're able to produce more offspring. And typically, females tend to lay four to six eggs, and their incubation period is only 18 to 35 days. But if you want to meet you have to have a place to lay your eggs. And this is another reason why woodpeckers drill holes, they actually make their nests in the cavities of trees, and they actually prefer to live in dead or decaying trees. Sometimes they'll nest in trees that already have holes in them, but for the most part, they'll build their own holes. And the holes that they drill are only slightly larger than the bird itself. And they can be any shape as long as the bird can get in. They start drilling their nests at the beginning of mating season. Usually in late April or early May, but besides mating season, they don't really make that much noise. And the ideal nest has a hard outside and a softer inside, which is why they find the soft siding of houses to be a great fit for nesting. Now, you may not want them on the side of your home, but they are really important to the ecosystems that they live in. And we're going to talk about that right after the break.

On this episode of notable figures in science, I want to recognize Dr. Mae Jemison, who is an engineer and an astronaut. She is accomplished so many amazing things in her life. in her early career, she got her medical degree and then joined the Peace Corps. She was a doctor for the volunteers for about two years, as well as supervising the other medical staff. After this, she worked with the CDC on creating vaccines for different viruses. But it doesn't end there as she became the first black woman to go into space when she worked for NASA on the STS 47. After resigning from NASA, she started her own organization that supports children with science education, and organizes its own space camps. And on top of all that, she's written multiple educational children's books. Dr. Jemison has had an extraordinary life so far, so no wonder she's in the National Women's Hall of Fame, and the International Space Hall of Fame. If you want to learn more about Dr. Jemison or the series, you can visit on wildlife.org. Okay, we're back. So woodpeckers are one of the many species that are extremely important to the ecosystem. Because of the balance that they bring to the food web. One of the most vital roles that they play is eating insects that can be harmful to trees. So they're basically a natural pest control. Along with this, they're also the prey animal for different species, mainly larger birds like hawks and other animals like foxes. They also contribute to something besides just the food chain. woodpeckers typically abandoned the holes that they inhabit in trees after one year. And because of this, they're known as primary cavity nesters. Once they leave their nest after a year, secondary cavity nesters like songbirds get to live their most woodpeckers are not on the endangered species list. However, most of the species populations are declining. And one of the major issues plaguing woodpeckers right now is deforestation. When we cut down trees where woodpeckers live, we're most likely cutting down their nests. The most endangered species of woodpecker is called the red collocated woodpecker, which I mentioned earlier. Both the male and the female have white or gray bellies, and black and white spotted wings. They prefer longleaf pine forests, but these trees are extensively logged, causing the birds to lose their habitat. While some are able to inhabit young trees, it typically takes years for a tree to become old enough, were woodpeckers able to build a nest in it. Air Pollution may also play a part in the decline of woodpecker populations, air pollution can actually weaken the trees, which cause them to die and cause more insects to live in those trees. And you may think that this is a good thing for the woodpeckers because they actually prefer rotting trees. But it's attracting these birds to areas where air pollution is worse. This in turn is causing the health of individuals who live there to decline as they're constantly breathing in harmful chemicals. There's also another type of pollution that's hurting the woodpeckers, noise pollution, cars and other vehicles make a whole lot of noise. And this could be muffling out the drumming of the woodpeckers. And because of this, it will be harder for females to find a mate because they can't hear their calls. And some studies have shown that near highways, bird populations are significantly lower than in areas that are not near highways. And because of the struggles that woodpeckers are facing. There are some really awesome organizations that you should definitely check out that not only help woodpeckers but all birds in general, you should check out the mass Audubon, the American bird Conservancy, and partners in flight for more ways that you can help woodpeckers and other birds. Thank you so much for coming on this adventure with me as we explored the world of woodpeckers. You can find the sources that we use for this podcast and links to organizations that we reference at on wildlife.org. You can also email us with any questions at on wildlife. dot podcast@gmail.com. You can also follow us on Instagram at en underscore wildlife and on tik tok at on wildlife. Don't forget to tune in next Wednesday for Another awesome episode, and that's on wildlife.

Jess Avellino

You've been listening to on wildlife with Alex Re brought to you every Wednesday.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai