Woodpeckers keep pecking “tuk-tuk-tuk” every day, shaking their heads faster than the speed of sound in the air, and the fastest woodpecker frequency can reach 14 times per second.
Not only that, but the woodpecker can stop immediately when it finds a worm through the wormhole, which brings the reaction force to its head, which is equivalent to 250 times the pressure that the astronauts bear when they take off in a rocket.
If it were a human being, this series of operations would be absolutely fatal. Not only would he suffer a concussion, but his head and neck would also suffer severe injuries.
But why can the woodpecker be safe and sound? Why don’t they get a concussion when they peck wood at such high speed? Let’s talk about this interesting topic.
Forest Doctor: Woodpecker
There are 210 species of woodpeckers in the world, of which 29 species are distributed in my country. The more common ones are green woodpeckers and spotted woodpeckers. They mainly live in forests and are called “forest doctors”.
Some people think that woodpeckers peck wood, which damages the trunk and is a pest to trees. But in fact, the opposite is true. Woodpeckers feed on the pests under the bark of trees, and can eat about 1,500 pests a day.
Not only do they have an amazing appetite, but they also have a wide range of activities. A pair of woodpeckers can wipe out more than 90% of the jellyfish and other pests in a forest of about 13 hectares in one winter.
When a woodpecker preys on food, it will pierce the bark first, and then hook out the pests with its long tongue to eat them, and the insect eggs in the tree hole will also be glued out by the woodpecker with mucus. If the pests are hiding deep in the trunk, the woodpecker will also use the sound of wood pecking to shake the pests out.
In addition, they also have a habit, that is, they will fly to another tree for food after the pests in the whole tree are completely eliminated, and they will leave after the tree is cured, which is why they are called “forest doctors”. “One of the reasons.
Although woodpeckers also occasionally look for food on the ground, most of them spend their whole lives in the woods, climbing spirally on tree trunks to search for pests. Except for a few species, woodpeckers generally do not perch on horizontal branches.
The reason why woodpeckers can climb and move on tree trunks is that their two toes are stretched forward and their two toes are stretched backward. This structure is conducive to their climbing on the trunk skin, and their long and hard tail feathers can play a supporting role.
Woodpeckers generally hold their heads up when pecking wood, but they are rarely choked by the sawdust produced by woodpeckers. This is because their nostrils have bristles that can prevent wood chips or dust from entering the nostrils.
Woodpeckers like to sing, some of them sing 5-6 times in one minute, 4-7 times each time, they like to stay in the mountains and forests in summer, but in winter they will fly to the jungles near the plains to live, mainly following food.
Why not concussion?
According to the determination of scientists, when a woodpecker is pecking, its head shakes at a speed equivalent to 2092 kilometers per hour, and the frequency of woodpeckers reaches more than 14 times per second.
Such a pecking speed will cause their heads to experience an impact force equal to 1,000 times the gravity, which is equivalent to 250 times the pressure experienced by astronauts when they take off on a rocket.
So why don’t they get concussions? This has to do with their body structure:
First, woodpeckers have very light brains
The brain of a woodpecker is only 2 grams. Such a light brain suffers less damage when it is hit hard. The reason why humans are prone to concussions is also related to the heavier brain. You must know that the human brain weighs 1,400 grams.
In addition, the relative position of the woodpecker’s brain and skull is also conducive to cushioning the impact. The woodpecker’s brain is wrapped by the skull from behind. When their heads are rocked back and forth to impact, the contact area between the brain and the skull will be larger, and the impact force on the brain can be spread over a larger area, and the impact force will be smaller.
Second, the structure of the brain counteracts the shock
The woodpecker’s brain and skull are almost tightly attached, with only a very narrow gap and scarce liquid in the middle, so it is difficult for shock waves to propagate in the woodpecker’s head, which can reduce the degree of their vibration.
Moreover, the woodpecker’s skull bone is spongy, which is softer than the pure calcium skull, which can play a good cushioning role and offset the impact from the outside world.
Third, the muscles on both sides of the head are well developed
Woodpeckers have a well-developed muscle system on both sides of their heads. When they peck, the strong muscles can help the head absorb and disperse external impacts.
Not only that, the woodpecker’s beak is also very special, the top of the beak is shorter than the bottom, so most of the impact force generated during pecking is transmitted to the body through the beak below, while the head bears less impact.
Fourth, the tongue can be shockproof
Incredibly, woodpecker tongues also act as shock absorbers. Their tongues are slender and elastic, and the base of the tongue is a piece of elastic connective tissue, which passes through the lower jaw, goes up around the back of the skull, and enters the right nostril at the front of the top of the brain for fixation.
So woodpeckers actually only use the left nostril to breathe, they use this way to hide their 12 cm long tongue, and this structure helps to relieve the impact they receive when they peck
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Woodpeckers’ tongues are supported by a part of the bones in the neck, which are entwined with veins, so when they peck and stick out their tongues, they will drive the bones in the neck to squeeze the veins, increasing the supply in the brain and skull. The amount of blood reduces the intensity of the collision between the brain and the skull.
Fifth, always peck vertically
In addition to the special body structure, the way woodpeckers peck wood is also conducive to alleviating the impact force. They can always peck the tree trunk very precisely vertically, so that no side force will be generated, which can avoid a lot of trouble.
Therefore, woodpeckers shake their heads at high speeds but do not suffer from concussions, mainly because their bodies have evolved various structures to relieve impact, and woodpeckers are born to peck wood.
The particularity of the wood-chasing bird’s body structure has given scientists a lot of inspiration, especially in terms of shock absorption and shock resistance, which has led humans to create many safety appliances to prevent head injuries or concussions. For example, when designing a hard hat, leaving a gap between the hat and the head can protect the head and neck well.
In addition, scientists have also designed a collar that can reduce the degree of concussion that occurs when an athlete hits by using the principle of woodpecker tongue shock absorption. The collar completely simulates the neck bones of a woodpecker. When an athlete exercises vigorously, the collar will squeeze the veins in the neck, increase blood supply to the brain, and relieve the degree of concussion.
In short, after years of evolution, the woodpecker has evolved into a tree crashing machine. It is not afraid of hitting trees, nor will it suffer concussions.