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However, not all woodpeckers forage for insects
in the same way. Some species lack the stiff tail that allows others to perch vertically on the trunks of trees. The wryneck woodpecker is
one of these species that does not climb; instead it descends to the ground to feed from ant nests, and can catch more than 100 ants with
a single flick of its long tongue.
Left: Woodpecker holes on a living conifer. Photo by Maya Walters. Below: A yellow bellied sapsucker perched in a thicket of bushes and trees. Photo courtesy Pam Hawkins. |
| The sapsucker woodpeckers have their own ingenious trick for catching insects. They do drill holes in trees like other woodpeckers, but only in trees that are living and producing sap. Sapsuckers create numerous small, squarish holes in such trees and allow the sap to begin dripping out. This sweet liquid attracts insects, which become trapped, and the woodpeckers then eat both the insects and the sap together. |
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| Other woodpeckers don't feed on insects at all. Acorn woodpeckers, quite predictably, feed on acorns. They drill holes into trees, not to catch insects, but to store nuts. They can cache hundreds of acorns within numerous small holes in a single tree. These more unusual feeding habits, however, are practiced only by the minority of woodpecker species. |
woodpeckers -- page 3 of 4
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