The primary reason is eating. Sapsuckers peck small holes in search of tree sap. Other kinds of woodpeckers are searching for insects like ants, wood borers and bark lice. Often these insects are ...

Woodpeckers play a crucial role in forest ecosystems, particularly in the creation and maintenance of tree cavities that serve as habitats for various species. These cavities are essential for ...

Ivory-billed woodpeckers make a unique double-knock noise when pecking at trees, and this sound may be a crucial aid to identifying any surviving birds. A recent recording may have captured this ...

But the woodpecker prefers its mature and old-growth trees to be snags — because it loves to eat the wood-boring beetles that flock to large dead and moribund trees, responding to insect outbreaks ...