The Woodpecker, the “Forest Doctor”? Is the Woodpecker a “Good Doctor”?

When talking about woodpeckers, the first thing that comes to mind is often "forest doctors", but for most people, woodpeckers seem to be animals in books and are rarely seen in real life. In fact, they are all around us, especially in autumn and winter when the leaves gradually fall, it is easier for us to observe their behavior and their traces. In Beijing and cities across North China, there are three common woodpeckers, namely the gray-headed green woodpecker, the great spotted woodpecker, and the star-headed woodpecker.

The Grey-headed Woodpecker is the largest of the three, and its grey-green color is very conspicuous. In addition to pecking wood on tree trunks, the Grey-headed Woodpecker also searches for fallen fruits and some insects on the ground for food.

The Star-headed Woodpecker is a small bird with black and white stripes. It prefers to move around on treetops and small branches.

The Great Spotted Woodpecker is perhaps the most common woodpecker in cities across the country. It is large and often pecks at trees from trunks. In addition to its black and white feathers, the male has a "little red hat" on its head.

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We are familiar with woodpeckers because of their ability to peck at trees and eat insects. In the minds of Chinese people, woodpeckers are even known as "forest doctors". But can woodpeckers really bear the title of doctor? Maybe they can, but the "doctor-patient relationship" with trees may be a little subtle... Why do we say that? Let's talk about it in detail.

01

If you want to do your work well, you must first sharpen your tools.

Woodpeckers have an inseparable relationship with trees, and their body structure is perfectly adapted to life in trees.

Birds have four toes. Most birds have three toes in front and one toe in the back. Woodpeckers have two toes in front and two toes in the back, which allows them to better fix themselves on the tree. Especially in the process of woodpecking, under severe vibrations, it is particularly important to adhere firmly. Their tails are also different from those of other birds. Their tails will be firmly against the tree trunk, just like a worker sitting on a small stool to work. This can also improve the stability of woodpeckers and prevent themselves from being shaken away by the reaction of the force.

These are just auxiliary tools. Let’s take a look at its main weapon – the woodpecker’s chisel.

Guess which of the following two birds is a true woodpecker?

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The picture above is actually a hoopoe. Its long beak helps it catch insects in the soil, so it can be called a "ground pecker". If a hoopoe wants to peck at a tree with its long beak, it will break in a few minutes. A real woodpecker has a short and thick beak, which is how it can make a hole in a tree.

Woodpeckers are not an easy task. The hard wood and high-speed impact require a very strong beak. At the same time, in the process of "construction", unnecessary dangers must be avoided. For example, flying wood chips may hurt the fragile eyes, so the moment the beak hits the tree, the woodpecker will close its eyes. After pecking the trunk, they use their very long tongues to hook out the insects in the trunk. The root of their tongues can usually be hidden at the back of their heads.

02

Woodpecker, "medical skills" are a bit rough...

Yes, most of the time woodpeckers do eat pests by pecking at wood, and we think they are "healing" trees, but they are not like real doctors who care about the feelings of their patients. You know, the insects in the tree trunks are not "stupid". If there are "door-breakers" outside, won't they run away? So the insects will drill around along the tunnels they have drilled to avoid the deadly pursuit.

How can the woodpecker give up? After working hard for a long time, the worm appeared. Can the "duck" in its mouth still fly away? Of course, it will continue to "construct"! If the worm is too clever, then the tree will suffer. Then, in order to "hunt down" the worm, the woodpecker will continue to dig all the way, and the damage caused may be far greater than the worm... If the tree could speak, it might shout: "Enough, enough. Can't I just treat this disease?"

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03

Woodpecker, the "charge" is a bit high...

The woodpecker's diet is not just about bugs, they can also get some protection money from the tree. If you see a bird pecking at a treetop, it is not trying to get any bugs out of the wood. It will peck a wound in the bark to eat the sap that flows out. Especially in winter, when food is scarce and bugs are scarce, sap becomes an important food supplement for woodpeckers. Not only the treetops, but also various parts of the trunk may be bitten to get a bite of snacks.

Needless to say, this kind of damage, at the very least, means that the "nutrition" that the tree has stored for the winter is stolen, hindering its growth in the spring of the following year. At the most, the wound is exposed and easily attacked by microorganisms, causing the heart of the tree to rot, and in severe cases, the entire plant may die. However, except for some species of woodpeckers that specifically "suck trees" to cause serious damage, most woodpeckers only do this occasionally, and for a large enough tree, a small injury is nothing.

04

Woodpeckers build their own homes...

Woodpeckers not only solve the problem of food, but also solve the problem of housing. Birds only build nests during the breeding season and use the nests to raise their offspring. When the offspring grow up, the nests will be abandoned. So where else can woodpeckers live? They must live in tree holes. Some species of woodpeckers will peck holes in living trees, and it goes without saying that they are harmful to the trees.

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Some woodpeckers build their nests in decayed wood. So do they not cause any harm? If a tree dies and decays due to natural causes, then it is nothing. But remember what I said before? Some woodpeckers will suck sap from the wood by pecking at it. They often peck at the same place repeatedly. Some trees may die because of this. Then the tree becomes decayed wood and becomes a home that the woodpecker can use very well.

Having said all this, are we trying to expose the woodpecker's "true identity" as a pest? Of course not.

In fact, we always like to impose human ideas on other creatures, and whether it is harmful or beneficial is from a human perspective. As for animals, they just want to survive in their own way. If we look at it from the perspective of nature, behaviors that are harmful from a human perspective are also meaningful to nature.

Take the nesting of woodpeckers for example. It is true that they cause some damage to trees. But since they have to build new nests every year, these are good nests for other creatures to use. Squirrels and other birds: hoopoes, antlers and various owls, they all rely on nests abandoned by woodpeckers, so woodpeckers' house-digging is actually an important part of the natural environment. And woodpeckers eat insects, even if there are some "barbaric construction" situations, they can indeed control the number of pests, which is still of positive significance to the entire ecology.

Therefore, the living habits of wild animals and their impact on the environment are actually quite complicated. If we oversimplify their anthropomorphization, although it may make people have a deeper impression, it may cause us to ignore the overall picture of the animal. Moreover, although they are all called woodpeckers, they are actually divided into many species, and their habits are different and similar.

Author: Ye Zhengrong

Review | Huang Chengming, Researcher at the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

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