Woodpecker keeps pecking "tick" every day, and the speed of the head shaking is faster than the speed of sound spreading in the air. The frequency of woodpeckers can reach up to 14 times per second.
Not only that, the woodpecker can also stop immediately when pecking through the wormhole. The reaction force on its head is equivalent to 250 times the pressure it faces when the astronaut takes off on a rocket.
If it were humans, this series of operations would be absolutely fatal. Not only would it cause concussion, but it would also suffer serious damage to its head and neck.
But why can the woodpecker be safe and sound? Why don’t they have a concussion when they peck at such a high speed? Let's talk about this interesting topic.
Forest Doctor : Woodpecker
There are 210 species of woodpeckers all over the world, of which 29 are distributed in my country. The more common are green woodpeckers and spotted woodpeckers. They mainly live in the forest and are called "forest doctors".
Some people believe that woodpeckers will damage the trunk and are a kind of harmful bird for trees. But in fact, the woodpecker feeds on pests under the bark and can eat about 1,500 pests a day.
Not only do they have amazing appetite, they also have a wide range of activities. A pair of woodpeckers can eliminate more than 90% of the gidding insects and other pests in about 13 hectares of forest in one winter.
When a woodpecker preys, it will first peck the bark, and then hook the pest with its long tongue out and eat it. The eggs in the tree hole will also be glued out by the woodpecker with mucus. If the pest hides deep in the trunk, the woodpecker will also use the sound of the woodpecker to shake the pest out.
In addition, they also have a habit of completely eliminating the pests in the whole tree before they fly to another tree to find food, and only leave after curing the tree. This is also one of the reasons why they are called "forest doctors".
Although woodpeckers occasionally go to the ground for food, most of them spend their lives in the woods, spiraling up on the trunks to search for pests. Except for a few species, woodpeckers generally do not live on cross branches.
The reason why woodpeckers can climb on the trunk is because their two toes extend forward and backward. This structure helps them to climb on the trunk surface, and their long and hard tail feathers can serve as support.
Woodpeckers usually raise their heads when they are pecking, but they are rarely choked by the wood chips produced by wood pecking. This is because there are bristles on their nostrils that can prevent broken wood chips or dust from entering the nostrils.
Woodpeckers like to sing. Some of them sing 5 to 6 times within a minute, 4 to 7 times each time. They like to stay in the mountains and forests in summer, but in winter, they will fly to the jungle near the mountains in the plains and live, mainly following food.
Why doesn’t there be concussion?
According to scientists' measurements, when a woodpecker pecks, the head shaking speed is equivalent to 2092 kilometers per hour, and the frequency of woodpeckers reaches more than 14 times per second. Woodpecker speed like
will make the impact force on their heads equal to 1,000 times the gravity, and 250 times the pressure on astronauts to take off on a rocket.
So why don’t they have concussions? This is related to their body structure:
First, the brain of the woodpecker is very light
The brain of the woodpecker is only 2 grams. Such a light brain will suffer less damage when it is hit hard. The reason why humans are prone to concussion is also related to the heavier brain. You must know that the human brain weighs 1,400 grams.
In addition, the relative position of the woodpecker's brain and skull is also conducive to alleviating the impact force, and the woodpecker's brain is wrapped by the skull from behind. When their heads shake back and forth, the area of contact between the brain and the skull will be larger, and the impact force acting on the brain can spread to a larger area, making the impact force smaller.
Second, the brain structure offsets the impact
The woodpecker's brain is almost tightly attached to the skull, with only very narrow gaps and sparse liquid in the middle, so the shock waves are difficult to spread on the woodpecker's head, which can alleviate the degree of vibration.
Moreover, the bones of the woodpecker's skull are spongy, which is softer than pure calcium skulls. It can play a good buffering role and offset the impact from the outside world.
Third, the muscles on both sides of the head are well developed
Woodpeckers have a fairly developed muscle system on both sides of the head. When they peck, strong muscles can help the head absorb and disperse external force collisions.
Not only that, the woodpecker's beak is also very special, and the top of the beak is shorter than the bottom. Most of the impact force generated when pecking is transmitted to the body through the beak below, while the head bears less impact force.
Fourth, the tongue can prevent shock
Incredible, the tongue of the woodpecker can also play a shock proof role. Their tongues are slender and elastic. The base of the tongue is an elastic connective tissue that penetrates from the lower palate, goes upwards around the back of the skull, and enters the right nostril at the front of the top of the brain to fix it.
So woodpeckers actually only breathe with their left nostril. They hide their tongues up to 12 cm in length in this way, and this structure is conducive to alleviating the impact they receive when pecking.
The woodpecker's tongue is supported by a part of the bones on the neck. This part of the bones and veins are entangled. When they peck and stick out their tongues, it will drive the bones on the neck to squeeze the veins, increase the blood supply in the brain and skull, and alleviate the intensity of the collision between the brain and the skull.
Fifth, always vertical woodpecker
In addition to the special body structure, the woodpecker woodpecker method is also conducive to alleviating impact forces. They can always peck the tree trunk vertically very accurately, so that there will be no side force generated, which can avoid a lot of trouble.
Therefore, woodpeckers shake their heads at high speed but will not cause concussions, mainly because their bodies have evolved various structures to relieve impact. Woodpeckers are born for woodpeckers.
The special nature of the body structure of Zhumu Bird has given scientists a lot of inspiration, especially in shock absorption and shock prevention, allowing humans to create many safety tools to prevent head injuries or concussions. For example, when designing a hard hat, keeping a gap between the hat and the head can protect the head and neck well.
In addition, scientists also designed a collar that can reduce the degree of concussion caused by athletes during impact by using the principle of shock absorption of woodpecker tongue. The collar completely simulates the neck bones of the woodpecker. When the athlete exercises vigorously, the collar will squeeze the veins on the neck, increase blood supply to the brain, and relieve the degree of concussion.
In short, after years of evolution, the woodpecker has evolved into a tree-hitting machine. It is not afraid of hitting trees and will not have concussions.
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