Woodpeckers Designed for Life With Wood
By Dr. James G. Dickson, Forests & People Magazine
The Louisiana Forestry Association and its people are about forests, trees and wood. A suite of birds is as well and have been at it much longer. The woodpeckers. They are equipped with nature’s design for life with wood. They have stiff tail feathers which function as a brace for perching on tree boles. Most birds have toes arranged three forward and one aft, but woodpeckers have two forward and two aft, suited for clinging to vertical surfaces, i.e., trees.