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Woodpecker   /wˈʊdpˌɛkər/   Listen
noun
Woodpecker  n.  (Zool.) Any one of numerous species of scansorial birds belonging to Picus and many allied genera of the family Picidae. Note: These birds have the tail feathers pointed and rigid at the tip to aid in climbing, and a strong chisellike bill with which they are able to drill holes in the bark and wood of trees in search of insect larvae upon which most of the species feed. A few species feed partly upon the sap of trees (see Sap sucker, under Sap), others spend a portion of their time on the ground in search of ants and other insects. The most common European species are the greater spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopus major), the lesser spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopus minor), and the green woodpecker, or yaffle (see Yaffle). The best-known American species are the pileated woodpecker (see under Pileated), the ivory-billed woodpecker (Campephilus principalis), which is one of the largest known species, the red-headed woodpecker, or red-head (Melanerpes erythrocephalus), the red-bellied woodpecker (Melanerpes Carolinus) (see Chab), the superciliary woodpecker (Melanerpes superciliaris), the hairy woodpecker (Dryobates villosus), the downy woodpecker (Dryobates pubescens), the three-toed, woodpecker (Picoides Americanus), the golden-winged woodpecker (see Flicker), and the sap suckers. See also Carpintero.
Woodpecker hornbill (Zool.), a black and white Asiatic hornbill (Buceros pica) which resembles a woodpecker in color.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Woodpecker" Quotes from Famous Books



... squawk around, and are neither interesting to look at nor pleasant to listen to, but are quarrelsome, and thievish. When I asked Oo-koo-hoo to name a few birds into which the spirits of white children entered, he mentioned, among others, the woodpecker—which the Indians consider to have, proportionately, the longest and sharpest tongue of all birds. That reminds me of the reply I received from one of the characters in this book, when I wrote him, among others, requesting that he grant me permission to make ...
— The Drama of the Forests - Romance and Adventure • Arthur Heming

... cry of the woodpecker! Well, it was charming, and the whole of Paris will sing that song with delight for a year. I also shall do like the whole of Paris, and I shall ...
— Serge Panine • Georges Ohnet

... how the two supposed "impulses" account in a scientific sense for the numerous and beautiful coadaptations which we see throughout nature; I cannot see that we thus gain any insight how, for instance, a woodpecker has become adapted to its peculiar habits of life. The work, from its powerful and brilliant style, though displaying in the early editions little accurate knowledge and a great want of scientific caution, immediately had a very wide circulation. ...
— On the Origin of Species - 6th Edition • Charles Darwin

... into a heavy sleep; for the big stub began to burn more freely as the wind changed, and they need not stir every half hour to feed their little fire and keep from freezing. It was broad daylight, the storm had ceased, and a woodpecker was hammering loudly on a hollow shell over their heads when they started up, wondering vaguely where they were. Then while Noel broke out of the commoosie, which was fairly buried under the snow, to find out where he was, Mooka rebuilt the fire and plucked ...
— Northern Trails, Book I. • William J. Long

... numerous seafowl, and the fenny country of the centre affording a feeding ground for the different kinds of waders. Of the resident species which are comparatively uncommon elsewhere may be mentioned the hawfinch, the greater and lesser spotted woodpecker, the carrion crow, the raven, the buzzard, the hen-harrier, and the peregrine falcon. Among the regular visitors are included the white wagtail, the pied flycatcher, the nightjar, the black redstart, the lesser redpole, the snow bunting, the ...
— Somerset • G.W. Wade and J.H. Wade


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