The fact that their tongue wraps around their skulls impresses me every time I think about it!

need more info about how brain is protected during pecking

The fact that they use their tail to 'hang firmly', almost like a leg of a stool!

Tongue wraps around skull.

The tong is really weird!! Look straight out of a horror movie haha! But I love this! Must be weird to feel it through your right nostril! I love those bird, I find them full of personnalities! Easy to spot even from far because of their unique fly pattern!

I love my pileated woodpeckers that show up occasionally in our back yard. I just learned that they eat carpenter ants - we have an old felled tree there and they always come to the same spot, so we must have carpenter ants.

I was also fascinated to learn about woodpecker tongues - I never knew that their tongues are adapted to get food.

The photography in this course is enchanting. Each new topic puts a smile on my face, and thank you to all of those remarkably patient photographers.

Do you know if the woodpecker feels the tongue moving over its skull? That would be a strange sensation.

Do you know how or if woodpeckers have to maintain their tongues? Do they brush their tongue bristles to keep them sharp?

Do insects bite the tongue when it catches them?

The adaptations include long barbed tongues wrapped around the skull to secure reaching ants and other insects using tree decay to establish their life-cycle.

I've recently read the book, The Hidden Life of Trees. Knowing more about all the insects that can invade and do damage to trees, I really appreciate and value knowing more about woodpeckers adaptations that enable them to find and eat the invader insects, perhaps slowing down the insect damage while finding themselves sustenance, especially their tongue. I'm lucky to have three types of woodpeckers among all the birds in my yard. They're wonderful.

After reading many of the comments, the woodpecker's tongue seems to win the prize.  I too must say, the tongue is amazing, the most amazing physical feature of woodpeckers, in my opinion.  But, still, overall, woodpeckers are beautiful and interesting birds from toes to head!

I agree with Don and Maria below who question the explanation from our excellent instructor...“If there was shock absorption, it would soften the woodpecker blows, making them less effective.”  I appreciate their skepticism and the explanations that they provided for a woodpecker's ability to ram its bill into wood, not harming the brain.  The whole head structure - tongue and all are clues to woodpeckers' evolutionary physical development needed for them to be able to exploit trees for insects and for nest construction.

The tail feathers which act as a support for the whole body while drumming, and the interminable tongue!

Wow, woodpeckers are amazing.  I have always loved watching them, but I had never thought about how they removed the insects/larvae from the holes.  It was fascinating to see how long the tongue is, how it attachs in their skulls, and the barbs or other structures on the ends.

Para mí los pájaros carpinteros son junto a carraca y abejarucos las aves que mas me emocionan cuando las veo.

Conocer más sobre los pájaros carpinteros, despues de este curso, no ha hecho mas que aumentar mi admiracion por ellos y por la complejidad de la naturalez.

He visto carpinteros en España, en Gambia, en Panamá, Paraguay....distintos pero siempre sorprendentes

That tongue with a pointed tip? Incredible.

Stiff tail

Tongue barbs

Tongue length

Sticky tongue

Position of toes

The sight of a Northern Flicker was what started my interest in birds.  I saw most birds, except Cardinals and Bluejays as little brown things.  Then one day, just at dawn a Northern Flicker came into full view and I was hooked.

Long tongues!

It was interesting to learn that other parts of the woodpecker's anatomy besides its bill helps woodpeckers peck so well, like its stiff tail feathers and zygodactyl feet that keep it stable enough to peck and drum. I knew that woodpeckers had long tongues, but I did not know that the shape of the tip of the tongue differs depending on the species, which was neat to learn about.

I was amazed by just how long their tongues are and that they have a special tendon to allow them to extend it.

got this photo, a few months ago. FLICKER. similar to a Gila, i guess. I think Gilas' are out west. This is from Waltham Ma.

the tongue adaptations.  Who knew?

Do woodpecker tongues ever get splinters? Other than the barbed/brushy tips, the rest of the tongue still looks soft and pink and tender. How do they avoid splinters or cuts/infections? I imagine living tree fibers are much softer, but woodpeckers also drill and search dead wood, which is rough and brittle. Ouch!

WP tongue is amazing adaptation! It would be interesting to see how the tongue is rolled back if any animation can explain it. Mainly if any muscles helps that movement. Also I am curious to know - like amphibians or lizards, can their tongue move quickly to catch pray (they may not need it as their pray doesn't move fast but still a question).

Barbets also make holes trees. How closely are the barbets related to Woodpeckers?

How the woodpeckers adapted to drumming for territory marking or mate advertising?

Similar to songs, does a female select a male based on drumming skills? If yes, what is the general criteria? Loudest (but perhaps depend on wood type & quality) / Fastest (Number of pecks per second), etc?