Date:         Tue, 18 Mar 2003 13:27:08 -0500
Reply-To:     Maryland Birds & Birding <MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
Sender:       Maryland Birds & Birding <MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
From:         Janet Millenson <janet@TWOCROWS.COM>
Subject:      Woodpecker drumming
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What on earth is that strange noise reverberating through the house -- a
ringing phone? a revving motorcycle? a pneumatic drill? No, it's Mr. Flicker
posting his personals ad on the furnace vent's metal cap. Ah, yes, it's
drumming season. According to the Birds of North America write-up, flickers
can whack at a rate of nearly 25 times per second (!) to make that
impressive BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR sound. (Compare that to Ruby-throated
Hummingbirds' wingbeat rate of 53 per second.)

How the heck do woodpeckers DO that, physiologically? When I think of
muscles that vertebrates can voluntarily move at the rate of many times per
second, wings (e.g., hummers) and vocal cords (e.g., humming) come to mind,
not necks. Anybody out there know more about this capability, or about other
animals with similar skills?

Janet Millenson
Potomac, MD (Montgomery County)
janet@twocrows.com
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"Look at the birds!" -- Pascal the parrot

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