Woodpeckers
Posted by Erwin Riedner on March 29, 2006
Q: What mechanisms (neural, etc.) exist in the woodpeckers to protect their hearing when they are banging and pounding? The external and internal racket must be pretty high.
Thank you,
Erwin Riedner
Wooster, Ohio
A: There has been a fair amount written about woodpeckers and their skulls (the bone has a cushioning ability that absorbs the incredible pounding it receives) but I know of no work done on their hearing. It certainly does seem that the pounding noise would be hard on their ears especially since they rely on their hearing, in many cases, to locate grubs within the wood. Take a look at our earlier unit on woodpeckers and their probable use of listening for food at www.enaturalist.org Sorry I can't give you any more information but thanks for asking.
John Wiessinger ( March 30, 2006)