Identification Tips:
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Woodpecker, common name for any of a family of more than 200 species of birds known for their ability to cling to the trunks of trees and dig holes in the wood with their beaks.
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Woodpeckers have a sharp, straight, chisel-shaped bill and a long, extensive tongue with a hard, spear-shaped tip.
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The toes are usually in pairs, two before and two behind, and have sharp, strong claws.
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The tail is stiffened, with the shafts of the feathers terminating in hard spines, which the birds press against a vertical surface to help support their weight.
Habitat:
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Woodpeckers are found throughout most of the world except Australia,
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are usually solitary in habit, and nest anywhere where there are trees, from rain forests to city parks.
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The birds subsist mainly on insects, which they detect by tapping the wood of trees with their bills.
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They excavate the insects by pickaxlike strokes of the bill.
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Woodpeckers generally nest in holes cut into the trunks of trees or even into giant cacti,
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the female depositing several shiny, white eggs in a soft bed of rotted chips at the bottom of the cavity.
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The acorn woodpecker, found from Oregon to Colombia, is remarkable for its habit of drilling a series of holes in tree trunks in which to store acorns for future use.
