Armand Bayou's Wildlife Wednesday and Woodpeckers. 🐦

Happy #WildlifeWednesday! Woodpeckers eat and communicate through their frequent, high-impact drumming. They peck up to 20 times per second at speeds of 13 mph to 15 mph with a force of 1,200 to 1,400 G’s. By contrast 90 to 100 G's will cause a human concussion, so how do woodpeckers survive their high intensity, frequent head banging? Woodpecker’s skulls are tough due to high mineral content, and the brain is tightly packed inside so the pecking motion causes minimal brain movement. Their long tongue also wraps around the skull, cushioning it and absorbing the intense impacts. Pileated woodpeckers are North America’s largest woodpecker and they can be found in the coastal flatwood forest along Armand Bayou.
Photos by Gary Seloff

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Armand Bayou Nature Center