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Do Woodpeckers Suffer Brain Injuries?
High-speed cameras reveal the physics of woodpecking
© Dan Streiffert
When woodpeckers drum, they slam their beaks against bark many times per second. Scientists have long hypothesized that woodpeckers have a way of protecting their brains from injury. However, more recent work provides a different picture. High-speed cameras showed scientists that woodpeckers aren’t softening the impacts to their skulls. And researchers also have found signs of cellular damage in woodpecker brains. However, woodpeckers could be protecting themselves in other ways, and may even have ways of repairing damage over time.
BirdNote®
Do Woodpeckers Suffer Brain Injuries?
Written by Conor Gearin
This is BirdNote.
[Pileated Woodpecker drumming]
When woodpeckers drum, they slam their beaks against bark many times per second. Scientists have long hypothesized that woodpeckers have a way of protecting their brains from injury. Maybe the spongy bone in woodpecker heads, or their incredibly long tongues that wrap around the back of their skulls, could help soften the blow.
[Pileated Woodpecker call]
However, more recent work provides a different picture. High-speed cameras allowed scientists to measure the physics of woodpecking. The results indicated that woodpeckers aren’t softening the impacts to their skulls. And there’s a simple reason why: if their skulls had a shock absorber, they wouldn’t be as good at hammering.
[Pileated Woodpecker drumming]
So woodpeckers could suffer brain injuries over time. And indeed, researchers have found signs of cellular damage in woodpecker brains. But they could be protected in other ways. The small size of their brains, and how they’re positioned in the skull, could help avoid the pressure on the brain that causes concussions.
[Pileated Woodpecker call]
And ongoing research seeks to reveal whether woodpecker brains have a way of repairing cellular damage over time. This could even shed light on how we might help people with chronic brain damage.
[Pileated Woodpecker drumming]
For BirdNote, I’m Ariana Remmel.
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Producer: Mark Bramhill
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Conor Gearin
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Pileated Woodpecker ML63086 recorded by Dave Herr, and Pileated Woodpecker ML218788471 recorded by Wil Hershberger.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2024 BirdNote August 2024
Narrator: Ariana Remmel
ID# woodpecker-11-2024-08-28 woodpecker-11
Reference:
https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(22)00855-7
Ariana Remmel
Narrator
Conor Gearin
WriterSights & Sounds
