Woodpeckers really know how to punch above their weight. The woodland birds can attack a tree at about 15 miles per hour with their powerful beaks. To achieve this, woodpeckers essentially turn themselves into hammers, by bracing their head, neck, abdomen, and tail muscles to hold their bodies completely rigid when they pound into wood.
While each impact is driven with their hip flexor and front neck muscles, biologists have learned that there is a more breathy force at play here. Like tennis stars grunting to sync and stabilize their core and whack a ball, woodpeckers also synchronize their breathing with their movement when they strike wood. The findings are detailed in a study published today in the Journal of Experimental Biology.
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