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Why woodpeckers can hammer without getting headaches (2022)

birdwatchingdaily.com

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Re: Why woodpeckers can hammer without getting headaches (2022)

#41

Post by hetspookjee »

For all the times that I’ve seen woodpeckers at work. I only see them banging as hard as they could during mating season, as to make as much sound as possible to signal vitality. All other times I’ve seen them at work they’re calmly chipping away at a tree like a woodworker with a chisel, and no way near there max strength. Almost all articles I read only seem to mention that a woodpecker hammers as hard as possible all dag long which just isn’t true.

Also for anyone hearing a woodpecker banging metal, it’s the sound signaling during mating season. Dampen the metal and he’ll find another place.

Re: Why woodpeckers can hammer without getting headaches (2022)

#42

Post by silisili »

vogt wrote: post #35
macabe wrote: post #22

Afraid to admit how long I've pondered the incredible evolutionary feat that is the woodpecker.

For the first time in my 36 years, I saw one out the window Saturday morning after I woke up. I felt like I was in the presence of a celebrity, and found myself semi-aghast at how excited I was. I tried really hard to get a video but he flew off. For those 15-20 seconds, watching him work was a treat. Life's simple pleasures I guess.

Get you a small shepherd's hook and a suet cage. He'll never leave your side!

Re: Why woodpeckers can hammer without getting headaches (2022)

#43

Post by anu7df »

m463 wrote: post #28
jessriedel wrote: post #20

> The woodpecker’s head strikes with at least 1,000 times the force of gravity (1,000 g), yet the bird suffers no apparent harm. By contrast, any human who experienced a 100 g impact would surely die. Nope, not true. 100 g accelerations of the human head (not just the helmet) happen routinely in football. > VT researchers gather data with the Head Impact Telemetry System, which employs sensors and wireless transmitte…

Just watched the movie "Concussion" with Will Smith. Sort of amazing the sort of punishment football players heads withstand... but they DO die much earlier in life with lots of complications. "The woodpecker's tongue extends through the back of the mouth out of the nostril, encircling the entire cranium. It is the anatomical equivalent of a safety belt for its brain. Human beings? Not a single piece of our anatomy p…

I thought concussion was from the brain sloshing around inside the skull. How does a tongue "set-belt" around the skull help with that?

Re: Why woodpeckers can hammer without getting headaches (2022)

#44

Post by deafpolygon »

m463 wrote: post #28
jessriedel wrote: post #20

> The woodpecker’s head strikes with at least 1,000 times the force of gravity (1,000 g), yet the bird suffers no apparent harm. By contrast, any human who experienced a 100 g impact would surely die. Nope, not true. 100 g accelerations of the human head (not just the helmet) happen routinely in football. > VT researchers gather data with the Head Impact Telemetry System, which employs sensors and wireless transmitte…

Just watched the movie "Concussion" with Will Smith. Sort of amazing the sort of punishment football players heads withstand... but they DO die much earlier in life with lots of complications. "The woodpecker's tongue extends through the back of the mouth out of the nostril, encircling the entire cranium. It is the anatomical equivalent of a safety belt for its brain. Human beings? Not a single piece of our anatomy p…

> The woodpecker's tongue extends through the back of the mouth out of the nostril, encircling the entire cranium.

Don't think this protects the brain. This allows it to hold tension like a spring so it can hammer (think about those springed door stops you flicked as a kid and the sound it makes). https://cdn.aws.toolstation.com/images/141020-UK/800/22940.j...

Re: Why woodpeckers can hammer without getting headaches (2022)

#45

Post by thedanbob »

silisili wrote: post #12

I'm somewhat convinced woodpeckers are smart, conniving creatures. I always kept suet out, and they love it. All hours of the day, hanging upside down eating at it. But, if I ever forgot to replace it when it ran empty, I'd be awaken at the crack of dawn by a woodpecker hammering the window awning. Only when the suet was empty. Maybe it's coincidence, but I like to believe he was trying to remind me they needed more…

I guess we had a woodpecker that just hated us for some reason a few years back. We live in a log home but this bird decided it had to hammer on the metal gutters first thing in the morning. Sounded like a machine gun.

Re: Why woodpeckers can hammer without getting headaches (2022)

#46

Post by thedanbob »

hetspookjee wrote: post #41

For all the times that I’ve seen woodpeckers at work. I only see them banging as hard as they could during mating season, as to make as much sound as possible to signal vitality. All other times I’ve seen them at work they’re calmly chipping away at a tree like a woodworker with a chisel, and no way near there max strength. Almost all articles I read only seem to mention that a woodpecker hammers as hard as possible…

Ah, I mentioned in another comment that we had a woodpecker do this at our house, a log home but it went after the metal gutters. That explanation makes a lot of sense.

Re: Why woodpeckers can hammer without getting headaches (2022)

#47

Post by vogt »

silisili wrote: post #42
vogt wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For the first time in my 36 years, I saw one out the window Saturday morning after I woke up. I felt like I was in the presence of a celebrity, and found myself semi-aghast at how excited I was. I tried really hard to get a video but he flew off. For those 15-20 seconds, watching him work was a treat. Life's simple pleasures I guess.

Get you a small shepherd's hook and a suet cage. He'll never leave your side!

I was inspired by your comment and started to look into this. We have kestrels that congregate around the house that I think would ravage the suet but I may try anyway.

Re: Why woodpeckers can hammer without getting headaches (2022)

#48

Post by jessriedel »

gnarbarian wrote: post #27
jessriedel wrote: post #20

> The woodpecker’s head strikes with at least 1,000 times the force of gravity (1,000 g), yet the bird suffers no apparent harm. By contrast, any human who experienced a 100 g impact would surely die. Nope, not true. 100 g accelerations of the human head (not just the helmet) happen routinely in football. > VT researchers gather data with the Head Impact Telemetry System, which employs sensors and wireless transmitte…

the impulse (force/time) is probably a better measure

Based on eyeballing the charts here, it looks like

(accel)^4(time)

better approximates the boundary of human endurance: doubling the number of gees cuts the amount of endurable time by more like a factor of 16 than 2.

https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/6154/maximum-survi...

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