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Journalism of Courage
Ever watched a woodpecker go at a tree like it owes them money and wondered: How on earth does its head not explode? It’s a fair question—after all, they can peck up to 20 times per second, delivering impact forces of up to 1,200 times the force of gravity (g). That’s more than what astronauts experience during liftoff!
But here’s the twist: woodpeckers don’t get headaches. They don’t suffer from concussions. And they don’t need tiny woodpecker-sized helmets. Their secret? A brilliant combination of evolution, anatomy—and yes, their tongue, which wraps around their entire head like nature’s built-in shock absorber.
According to certain scientists, woodpeckers have super-strong but flexible skulls that help spread the impact forces evenly. Unlike humans, whose brains “float” in fluid (and can jostle during a hit), woodpeckers have tightly packed brains with minimal movement. Their spongy bone structure, particularly around the forehead and back of the skull, acts like a shock-absorbing layer.
The BBC and National Geographic explain that their beaks and skulls are perfectly designed to dissipate energy from each peck, so the shock doesn’t reach the brain. It’s like a natural cushion system built right into their face.
However, this has recently been contested by a 2022 study published in Current Journal that posits the woodpecker’s brain is so small and by its virtue doesn’t need protection like a human brain would. “An animal that has a smaller size can withstand higher decelerations,” Sam Van Wassenbergh, lead author of the study, told NPR. “That’s a biomechanical law.”
Here’s the truly mind-blowing part. A woodpecker’s tongue isn’t just long—it’s incredibly long. In some species, like the Northern Flicker, the tongue can be up to three times the length of its beak, according to the American Bird Conservancy. But what makes it special is how it wraps around the back of the skull, over the top of the head, and even around the eyes in some cases, basically forming a loop inside the head.
But the tongue’s acrobatics aren’t just about storage. That unique wraparound design also acts like natural padding. According to a team of Chinese scientists who studied woodpeckers in slow motion using high-speed 3D cameras, the tongue helps absorb shock — offering some protection to the brain during all that intense pecking, basically acting like a seatbelt.
The surrounding tissues provide extra support, reducing vibrations and stress. So, every time a woodpecker hammers into wood, that wrapped tongue helps to brace the brain in place.
It doesn’t stop at the tongue. The woodpecker’s beak is also specially adapted. The outer layer is hard, but the inner core is more elastic—helping to absorb some of the force before it travels any further. Think of it like built-in padding. Some researchers have even suggested that the slightly uneven lengths of the upper and lower beak might help distribute pressure better.
Scientists have studied woodpecker anatomy to help design better helmets, car safety systems, and even black boxes in airplanes. Nature has fine-tuned this bird for a very specific task: pounding on trees all day without losing its mind—literally.
So the next time you hear a woodpecker knocking away, just know: it’s not just drilling for bugs. It’s showing off millions of years of evolutionary genius—and that ridiculously long tongue is doing a lot more than you might expect.
