How Do Woodpeckers Use Their Tongues?

Courtesy Sharon Herrington

Woodpecker Tongue

“I watched a red-bellied woodpecker stick its tongue out over and over. What was it doing?” asks Kimberly Miskiewicz of Raleigh, North Carolina.

Red-bellied woodpeckers use their incredibly long tongues to forage for insects. Their tongues extend nearly 2 inches beyond the tip of their bills. They stick their long tongues into tree cavities and crevices to probe for insects and grubs to eat.

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Courtesy Ron Lemaster

A woodpecker tongue is perfectly designed for scooping insects out of trees. It can be covered in a sticky fluid that helps capture bugs. The end of their tongue is also barbed to allow them to latch on to food. This makes retrieving insects a breeze for woodpeckers.

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Courtesy Peggy Booth

Sometimes woodpeckers even use their tongues to drink syrupy sugar water from hummingbird feeders. Considering all the places they use their amazing tongues for feeding, they can get messy in a hurry. The bird you watched, sticking its tongue out repeatedly, was probably just cleaning its tongue after foraging for food.

Sapsuckers have an extra advantage: Hairlike structures on their short tongues help these birds suck sticky, insect-laden sap from trees.

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Woodpecker Brain

You’d think repeatedly slamming their heads into hard surfaces would cause brain damage. Turns out woodpeckers have a special skull structure that protects their brains from the impact of hammering and pecking. Woodpeckers have a unique bone in their skulls that wraps around their brain. It works like a seat belt, protecting their tiny brains from damage.

Next, learn why woodpeckers peck and how to stop it.