Saturday again. After the dad left, the woodlet stayed up there alone for a bit. He tried some pecking and some picking up of things with his tongue, which is there as big as day in the photo above. The tongue of the woodpecker is a very powerful thing! The Sibley Guide to Bird Life and Behavior says (slightly edited for length here):
Woodpecker tongues are barbed, sticky, and extremely long for the bird's head size. In some species, the tongue can extend as far as five inches out of the bill. In all birds, the tongue contains a set of bones, known collectively as the hyoid apparatus, that provides support, structure, and an attachment point for muscles that allow the birds to move their tongues and manipulate food. The hyoid apparatus ends in two elongated "horns" that sweep off the back of the tongue. In woodpeckers extreme tongue extension is possible because of exceptionally long hyoid horns, which wrap completely around the skull and are anchored near the nostril or around the eye, depending on the species.
Isn't he adorable?
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