Whacky Woodpecker

August 08, 2016 1 Comment

If you decided to bang your skull against a tree 12,000 times in one day, do you think you might get a headache?

Sounds crazy, right?

Well, it is for humans, but for woodpeckers, this is part of their daily routine as they can peck up to 20 times per second in search of a tasty morsel!! (And no, these birds don’t get headaches, so there’s no need for them to stock up on aspirin.)

With all that pecking, what keeps these unique birds from getting really bad migraines?

God designed these animals with super-strong neck muscles, special reinforced skulls, self-sharpening, chisel-like beaks, and tight, spongy cushions around their craniums – so this repeated impact doesn’t cause their heads to throb with pain! Shock absorbing tissues basically keep their brains from rattling around in their heads during rapid-fire pecking!

One of the most amazing features of the woodpecker is its remarkably long tongue. We don’t normally have an opportunity to see this tongue since its usually probing crevices in a tree, but this long and narrow organ wraps around the back of the head and is almost three times the length of the woodpecker’s beak. In fact, in some species, the tongue is even longer than the bird’s entire body!

 So how does this whacky woodpecker use his very talented tongue? He uses it for hunting food. No forks, knives or spoons required – just this elongated muscle that feels around and searches through narrow tunnels, hunting for small, juicy bugs. When the woodpecker finds one of these little guys, he pierces it with the tip of his tongue, and reels it in for dinner.

 

To survive, all of the woodpecker’s unique features would have to have been created at the same time, but evolutionary scientists have been desperately looking for what they call intermediate, or “in-between” fossils. An intermediate would show a transition from one type of animal to another kind. For example, in order to “prove” that their theory is true, evolutionists continue searching for a reptile whose scales are becoming feathers. It shouldn’t surprise us that not one has ever been found, because...

THEY DON’T EXIST!

While there is variety among species, the Bible says that God created each creature according to its own kind!

Again, they don’t exist, but just imagine what a supposed in-between woodpecker would have looked like. For instance, what if a bird had the long tongue of the woodpecker, but its supporting structures (the strong beak, cartilage, muscles and bones) hadn’t yet “evolved”. The bird couldn’t pull it back into its head and would fly around with a broken beak and its tongue hanging out! How long do you think a bird could survive in this condition?

The woodpecker is another great example of an extraordinary animal created by a powerful, awesome and wise God. All the necessary parts were designed together and work together to make this incredible bird do what it does. . . and it does it well!

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