Birds

Woodpecker

Picidae · also called woodpeckers

Not Evaluated insectivoreomnivore Temperate forest Temperate grassland Desert

A woodpecker makes its living by hitting trees. It strikes bark and dead wood thousands of times a day, at speeds that would concuss almost any other animal, and it does this while clinging vertically to a trunk, braced on a stiff tail, firing a barbed tongue longer than its own head into the tunnels of grubs it cannot see.

Overview

Woodpeckers are the family Picidae, around 240 species, on every continent except Antarctica and Australia. Most are bark-foraging insectivores with a chisel bill, zygodactyl feet (two toes forward, two back), and stiffened tail feathers. The family includes the true woodpeckers, the sap-drilling sapsuckers, the ground-feeding flickers, and the tiny piculets.

Built for impact

A striking woodpecker decelerates at many times the force a human could take. It survives because its brain is small, tightly held, and oriented lengthwise to the blow, its strike is almost perfectly straight, and a zone of spongy skull bone plus the wraparound tongue bones act as mild dampers. Newer work suggests the head simply behaves as a stiff hammer and the forces stay within safe limits at that size.

The tongue

The tongue is anchored to the hyoid, a chain of thin bones that runs behind the jaw, up and over the back of the skull, and forward again — in some species into a nostril or around an eye. Sliding it forward shoots the barbed, sticky tip several centimetres past the bill into insect galleries.

Drummers and builders

The rapid drum roll on a resonant dead branch — or a gutter or drainpipe near houses — is a territorial signal, not feeding, and each species drums to its own rhythm. Woodpeckers chisel a fresh nest cavity most years, and the abandoned holes house owls, kestrels, ducks, bats, and dozens of other animals, making the family a keystone of wooded habitats.

Status

Woodpeckers as a family are Not Evaluated. Most are common, but species tied to large stands of old or dead timber are declining, and the ivory-billed and imperial woodpeckers — two of the largest — are considered extinct after old-growth logging.

Woodpecker: common questions

Why don't woodpeckers get brain damage from hammering?

Several features work together to keep the forces below the threshold for injury. The woodpecker's brain is small and light, is held tightly against the skull with little room to move, and is oriented with its longest side facing the impact, which spreads the load over a wider area. A zone of slightly spongy bone at the front of the skull and the long, flexible tongue-support bones that wrap around the head act as mild dampers. The bird also strikes almost perfectly straight, avoiding the twisting motion that most damages a brain. Recent research suggests the head works more like a stiff hammer than a cushioned one, and that the pecking forces simply stay within safe limits for such a small animal.

What is a woodpecker's tongue like?

Remarkably long and mobile. It is supported by the hyoid apparatus, a chain of slender bones and elastic tissue that starts at the tongue, passes under and behind the lower jaw, then divides and runs up over the back of the skull beneath the skin, with the two branches meeting near the base of the upper bill or, in some species, coiling into a nostril or around an eye. By sliding this whole structure forward, the bird can extend the tongue several centimetres beyond the bill tip. The tip itself is hard and barbed in grub-eaters and brushy in sap and ant feeders, and it is coated with sticky saliva.

Why do woodpeckers drum on houses?

Drumming is how woodpeckers advertise a territory and attract a mate, taking the place of the elaborate songs of perching birds. A bird wants the loudest, most far-carrying surface it can find, and a hollow dead limb is ideal, but so is a metal gutter, chimney cap, satellite dish, or wooden siding with a resonant cavity behind it. The bird is not feeding and usually not damaging the structure much, though repeated drumming on soft wood siding can wear holes. It is most intense in spring, often at dawn, and usually stops once the bird has paired and settled. Making the favoured spot less resonant or less accessible generally moves the bird on.

How do woodpeckers help other wildlife?

By building homes they later abandon. Most woodpeckers excavate a new nest hole almost every year, leaving a growing stock of ready-made cavities in the wood. A huge range of animals that cannot dig their own holes then move in, including small owls, kestrels, tits, nuthatches, tree swallows, wood ducks, bats, dormice, pine martens, and many insects. In many forests the number of these secondary cavity users is limited directly by how many woodpecker holes are available, so a decline in woodpeckers ripples out through the whole community. This is why ecologists treat woodpeckers as a keystone group.

Sources & further reading

Written by HideShark Editorial Team · reviewed by HideShark Science Desk. Published November 7, 2026. Last updated November 7, 2026.

Quick facts

Scientific name: Picidae
Diet: Mainly wood-boring beetle grubs, ants, and other insects dug out of bark and dead wood, along with tree sap tapped from drilled wells by the sapsuckers, plus nuts, acorns, fruit, and seeds in autumn and winter, and the eggs and nestlings of other birds taken by a few species
Shock absorbers in the skull: A woodpecker strikes wood at speeds around 6 to 7 metres per second and takes decelerations many times greater than a human could survive, cushioned by a slightly spongy zone of skull bone, a wraparound tongue-support structure, and a brain held snugly with its long axis facing the blow to spread the force
A tongue that circles the head: The woodpecker's tongue is anchored to a chain of thin bones, the hyoid, that splits behind the lower jaw, runs up over the back of the skull, and in some species curls into the right nostril or around the eye socket, letting the bird shoot the barbed, sticky tip several centimetres past the bill tip into insect tunnels
Feet and tail built for vertical life: Most woodpeckers have two toes forward and two back for a strong grip on bark, and a set of stiffened, pointed tail feathers that they press against the trunk as a third support, forming a stable tripod while both feet and the bill do their work
Drumming is song, not feeding: The fast, rhythmic drum roll a woodpecker beats on a resonant dead branch, or a gutter or metal pole near houses, is a territorial and courtship signal that replaces the song of other birds, with each species drumming at its own speed and pattern
Nest holes that house half the forest: Woodpeckers chisel a fresh nest cavity most years, and the old holes are then used by owls, kestrels, ducks, bats, martens, and dozens of other animals that cannot excavate their own, which makes woodpeckers a keystone group in wooded habitats
Nearly worldwide, with striking gaps: The roughly 240 woodpecker species live on every continent except Antarctica and Australia, and are also naturally absent from Madagascar, New Guinea, and most oceanic islands, a distribution that shaped early ideas about how birds spread across the world
Range: Every continent except Antarctica and Australia, in almost any habitat with trees or large woody plants, including boreal and tropical forest, wooded savanna, orchards, parks, bamboo, and even the giant cacti of North American deserts, from sea level to the tree line on mountains.
Conservation status: Not Evaluated ≈ Not assessed as a family of around 240 species, and most woodpeckers are common, but species that depend on large tracts of old or dead timber are declining, and at least two of the largest, the ivory-billed woodpecker of the southeastern United States and Cuba and the imperial woodpecker of Mexico, are considered extinct or almost certainly so after old-growth logging removed their habitat in the wild