![]() ![]() They like their own space, and will fend off other woodpeckers attempting to fly into their delineated territory. Whilst there are exceptions, generally speaking woodpeckers tend of be aggressively solitary. Thus, when we come across other animals sharing the earth with us who don’t need community, our interests are automatically piqued. It’s built into our very DNA, as we’ve evolved to require community and socialising as a necessity of survival. Now it’s time for us to take a look at this creature as a woodpecker spirit guide, in order to get to the bottom of the symbolic meaning of woodpeckers. Woodpeckers have come to represent a whole range of positive traits, omens and messages to humans over the centuries.įrom loyalty, steadiness and resilience, to creativity and wisdom, sometimes even bad luck, we have made a totem animal out of the woodpecker, reading deeply into any encounter with a woodpecker we might be fortuitous enough to enjoy. Instead, they communicate with each other in the same way many human cultures have for centuries: by drumming out a beat in a very specific rhythm against the trunk of a tree. Unlike other passerine birds and songbirds, woodpeckers don’t have a pretty song to sing. Secondly, this behavior enables them to dig holes large enough to nest and raise chicks in.Īnd thirdly, woodpecker pecks also form the basis for their communication skills. The behavior for which woodpeckers are most well-known is, of course, the rhythmic drumming on tree trunks and bark. Drumming serves three major purposes for woodpeckers.įirstly, pecking wood allows woodpeckers to excavate holes in the tree, through which they can access their widely flexible diet of bugs and creatures. ![]() The most definitive characteristics of the woodpecker family are undoubtedly their peculiar behaviors. However, some – like the acorn woodpecker with oak trees, for instance – have evolved tangentially with specific types of wood. Woodpeckers aren’t usually picky, and will inhabit rainforests, tropical forests, shrubland or woodland – both deciduous and coniferous. As you might have guessed, given their name, they are most often found in woodland and forests, where they can find the greatest distribution of natural food and habitat. Woodpeckers, piculets, wrynecks and sapsuckers are found in every country and in every corner of the world except for Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, Madagascar, and at the extreme poles. Many of them have tufts of plumage like Mohican hairdos atop their heads. They also have extremely long tongues which they use for feeding. More than a few species of woodpecker have red in their plumage, either around the head or tail, making them quite easy to identify, even to amateur bird-watchers.ĭistinctive among woodpeckers is their medium-length sharp and visibly-strong beak, which they use to characteristically “peck” wood, creating that recognisable drumming sound. Many woodpeckers exhibit pied plumage, often based on olive green, gray, brown, black and white colors which help them to blend in with their arboreal environments. ![]() Their feathers may be fairly drab or quite exuberantly colorful. Woodpeckers, piculets, sapsuckers and wrynecks all tend to have more or less the same anatomical make-up, but their overall appearance can vary quite greatly. Each of these birds exhibit similar traits, and are grouped together for distinctive anatomical, as well as behavioral, reasons. The Picidae family is home to some 240 different species of woodpecker, piculets, sapsuckers, and wrynecks. Truth is, though, these famous woodpeckers belong to a much larger family. When we think of a woodpecker, chances are we’re thinking of a very specific type – the common North American pileated woodpecker, or Palearctic greater spotted woodpecker. With mottled black and white plumage and bright red heads, these nifty tree-climbers are a charming member of the Western woodland. In this article, we’ll be exploring their meaning as totems, omens and symbols. A woodpecker’s symbolism continues to tell us things about ourselves and the natural world around us. ![]() The distinctive tremolo knocks of the woodpecker’s beak against the bark of a tree or roof of a house can be heard for many hundreds of feet away, and has come to symbolize a number of different things over the years.įrom Native American mythology to modern fairy tales and cartoons, woodpeckers have shaped much of our folklore. Comprised of around 240 different species, the woodpecker family has produced some of the most curious birds in the bird world. ![]()
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