AnimalsWoods
Woodpecker Fun facts for kids
Family Picidae (e.g. Dendrocopos major, the great spotted woodpecker)
The woodpecker lives in forests, parks and gardens, almost everywhere and eats insects from under tree bark, nuts.
- Where it lives
- in forests, parks and gardens, almost everywhere
- What it eats
- insects from under tree bark, nuts
- How big it is
- about as big as a hand
Fun facts about the woodpecker
The ones Sammy likes best. She tells them in the game, too.
A woodpecker's tongue is so long that it wraps all the way around the inside of its head.
A woodpecker can knock on a tree up to 20 times in one second!
Just before each peck, a special extra eyelid snaps shut to keep wood chips out of its eyes.
Some woodpeckers drum on metal gutters and road signs, because the louder the drumming, the better!
The tip of its tongue is sticky and spiky, perfect for grabbing bugs hiding deep inside wood.
Acorn woodpeckers stuff thousands and thousands of acorns into one tree and guard it as a family.
Woodpeckers dig a new home every year, and their old holes become homes for owls, bats and squirrels.
It uses its stiff tail like a bike's kickstand to lean on when it clings to a tree.
Riddle
Can a friend guess it?
Read the clues to someone, one at a time, without saying the animal. How many clues do they need? Fewer is better, just like in the game.
I'm a bird who lives in forests, parks and gardens, and I stay home all year.
Every year I dig a new home, and owls, bats and squirrels move into my old ones.
My tongue is so long that it wraps all the way around the inside of my head.
When I cling to a tree trunk, I lean on my stiff tail like a bike's kickstand.
I knock on tree trunks with my strong beak, so fast it sounds like a drum.
Sammy might be thinking of a woodpecker.
In Thought Zoo, Sammy picks an animal and you ask her yes-or-no questions to find it. You'll find the woodpecker in the Woods adventure.
Play the WoodsComing to iPad, iPhone and Android on 12 January 2027
