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Woodpecker

Woodpeckers are found worldwide and include numerous species, usually numbered at 218 (including the Ivory-billed).

Note: The above text is excerpted from the Wikipedia article "Woodpecker", which has been released under the GNU Free Documentation License.

For more information, see the following related content on ScienceDaily:

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Woodpeckers' Heads Act More Like Stiff Hammers Than Safety Helmets

July 14, 2022 — Scientists had long wondered how woodpeckers can repeatedly pound their beaks against tree trunks without doing damage to their brains. This led to the notion that their skulls must act like ...

Drumming in Woodpeckers Is Neurologically Similar to Singing in Songbirds, Study Finds

Sep. 20, 2022 — Researchers have found regions in the woodpecker forebrain that show characteristics that until now have only been associated with vocal learning in animals and language in humans. The study shows ...

Can Cities Make Room for Woodpeckers?

Apr. 3, 2023 — Researchers are deploying the latest mapping techniques to identify the most important suburban habitat for North America's largest woodpecker. Wildlife habitat in congested places is becoming ...

Woodpeckers' Taste: Sweet Sap, Savory Ants

Aug. 19, 2022 — Woodpeckers taste sweet things, but wrynecks -- unusual woodpeckers that specialize on ants -- lost the ability to taste ...

Woodpecker Guides Post-Fire Forest Management

Apr. 25, 2023 — What's good for the Black-backed Woodpecker is good for restoration of burned California forests. The birds' unique relationship with fire underpins the latest research into improved ...

Sharing the Love Helps Male Acorn Woodpeckers Father More Chicks

Aug. 17, 2021 — A new long-term study finds that male acorn woodpeckers breeding polygamously in duos or trios of males actually fathered more offspring than males breeding alone with a single female, contrary to ...

Researchers Discover New Species of Salamander from Gulf Coastal Plains Hotspot

May 3, 2022 — There are approximately 750 species of salamander known to science, a third of which reside in North America. Now, a team of researchers has discovered a new species of swamp-dwelling dusky ...

Vocal Non-Native Songbird Could Change Britain's Dawn Chorus as We Know It

June 6, 2022 — A tiny but loud, brightly colored songbird from subtropical Asia could be emerging as a new invasive species in Britain, threatening to dominate the dawn chorus of native Robins, Blackbirds and ...

3D-Printed Material to Replace Ivory

Apr. 14, 2021 — A new material called 'Digory' has been developed, which can be processed in 3D printers and is extremely similar to ivory. It can be used to restore old ivory ...

European Bird Communities Move to Cooler Areas, but Mountain Ranges and Coastlines 'Control the Traffic'

June 27, 2023 — A recent study shows that European bird communities have shifted northeastward in the past 30 years. These shifts are faced with obstacles such as mountain ranges and coastlines. Overall, bird ...

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'Shocking' Discovery: Electricity from Electric Eels May Transfer Genetic Material to Nearby Animals

Dec. 5, 2023 — Researchers have discovered that electric eels can alter the genes of tiny fish larvae with their electric shock. Their findings help to better understand electroporation, a method by which genes can ...

Mice Pass the Mirror Test, a Classic Indicator of Self-Recognition

Dec. 5, 2023 — Researchers report that mice display behavior that resembles self-recognition when they see themselves in the mirror. When the researchers marked the foreheads of black-furred mice with a spot of white ink, the mice spent more time grooming their ...

More Than a Meteorite: New Clues About the Demise of Dinosaurs

Dec. 4, 2023 — What wiped out the dinosaurs? A meteorite plummeting to Earth is only part of the story, a new study suggests. Climate change triggered by massive volcanic eruptions may have ultimately set the stage for the dinosaur extinction, challenging the ...

Twin Research Indicates That a Vegan Diet Improves Cardiovascular Health

Nov. 30, 2023 — A recent trial of identical twins comparing vegan and omnivore diets found that a vegan diet improves overall cardiovascular ...

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Jays Jump in While Crows Hold out for the Treat

Dec. 6, 2023 — New research has found that two similar species of birds behave very differently around their favorite food when they have company. Biologists compared the behavior of two species of corvids, ...

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Dec. 6, 2023 — Researchers have shown that an influx of water and ions into immune cells allows them to migrate to where they're needed in the body. ...

The Ocean May Be Storing More Carbon Than Estimated in Earlier Studies

Dec. 6, 2023 — The ocean's capacity to store atmospheric carbon dioxide is some 20% greater than the estimates contained in the latest IPCC report. Scientists looked at the role played by plankton in the natural ...

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Molecular Fossils Shed Light on Ancient Life

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Wasps That Recognize Faces Cooperate More, May Be Smarter

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It Turns Out, This Fossil 'Plant' Is Really a Fossil Baby Turtle

Dec. 7, 2023 — Researchers re-examined a plant fossil found decades ago in Colombia and realized that it wasn't a plant at all: it's a fossilized baby turtle. It's a rare find, because juvenile turtles' shells ...

Wild Birds Lead People to Honey -- And Learn from Them

Dec. 7, 2023 — A study finds the greater honeyguide can learn distinct vocal signals to help people in Africa locate bee colonies. In parts of Africa, people communicate with a wild bird -- the greater honeyguide ...