E - Woodpeckers

Can you hear that knocking sound? That’s the sound of a woodpecker feeding. They use their powerful beak to hammer holes in tree bark and then extract beetle larvae with a long, flexible tongue. In spring, both males and females will ‘drum’ to defend their territory from outsiders. They hammer their beak against a tree trunk at incredibly high speeds – up to 40 strikes per second! Each rattle sends a message to all the other woodpeckers that can hear it – this part of the forest belongs to me.