Belonging to the Picidi family, made up of more than 200 species, the peaks are known birds because they use a “particular technique”: that of piercing with their ben’s shape in the shape of a chisel the trunks of the trees chasing food or cavities where to nest. Always “face to face” against the hard wood, the rhythm of their woods, can reach performance similar to those of the pneumatic hammers: up to 20 shots per second, from 8,000 to 12,000 times a day, at the average speed of 6-7 m/s. To protect themselves from the violence of their impacts, these feathers have developed two particular anatomical characteristics.
A natural shock absorber. First, the skull bones and the beak-school beak are separated from a spongy connective tissue that acts as a “shock absorber”. Secondly, they use their tongue, anchored to the Ioid bone and so long that they wrap the skull (in a canal that turns around the head and neck and leads over the beak) to the “pneumatic bearing”. In a “hunting” position, unrolling with a snap, the tongue comes out of the beak and sucks on the sticky tip of larvae and hidden insects in the galleries dug in the trunks. In a “rest” position, it remains rolled around the skull, protecting the peak from impacts. Avoiding, so that every time he beats his head violently against the trunk, undergo injuries to the brain or eyes.
