“Predicted probabilities of deformities occurrence in pigeons’ foot according to … the density of hairdressers (quadratic effect)” is one aspect of the study “Urban pigeons losing toes due to human activities“, which is featured in the column “Pigeons Research Review” in the special Gulls, Crows, Pigeons, Woodpeckers issue (volume 29, number 5) of the magazine […]
The special Gulls, Crows, Pigeons, Woodpeckers issue (volume 29, number 5) of the magazine has flown its way (through the internet, in PDF form) to subscribers. The table of contents and several free articles are online. We heartily encourage you to buy your very own copy of the issue, or even better to subscribe to […]
“This Woodpecker Will Drill Into Your Skull And Eat Your Brains—If You’re a Baby Dove,” explains an article by Jason Bittel in Smithsonian magazine. It says: In 2015, Harold Greeney [pictured here, horizontal] trained his camera on a mourning dove nest stitched into the crook of a cactus. As an ornithologist, Greeney studies the love […]
Dr. Ivan Schwab explains why woodpeckers don’t get headaches, in this Discovery Channel video: He explains it in more detail, in this TEDx Talk: Dr. Schwab, of the University of California Davis, and the late Philip R.A. May of the University of California Los Angeles, were awarded the 2006 Ig Nobel Prize for ornithology, for exploring […]
When woodpeckers drill into a tree trunk, their skulls can experience mechanical shocks in excess of 1,200 g – hundreds of times stronger than the g-forces which astronauts might experience – and yet the birds do not appear to be in any way damaged, and are apparently immune to headaches. But what would happen to […]
“A woodpecker is known to drum the hard woody surface of a tree at a rate of 18 to 22 times per second with a deceleration of 1200 g, yet with no sign of blackout or brain damage.” Suggesting, to some, the question : “How does the bird strike its beak against a tree repeatedly […]