As I watched a woodpecker banging away at a tree, it made me think, why don’t woodpeckers get headaches or suffer brain trauma from all that drumming? So, I looked it up.

Once again, nature has created a miracle that does not allow the woodpecker to get headaches or become dizzy. Scientists have performed experiments to address the issue. Turns out that woodpecker’s skulls and brains are equipped to ha ndle the shocks. Here are a few of the findings.

It’s a complicated mixture of things.

1. They can vary the path of their pecks by moving their beaks, thus minimizing damage to any particular area of the brain.

2. The skull of a woodpecker is flexible due to plate-like bones.

3. Woodpecker’s skulls have a bone that acts like a seatbelt. The bone wraps around the skull. The “seatbelt” protects the skull and the brain.

4. The beak is designed differently than most birds.

5. The woodpecker’s beak forms an overbite. This beak bone takes most of the hit when pecking. It acts to absorb the impact and puts the strain on the body, not the skull.

6. The skull acts like an internal helmet.

7. In addition, small stiff feather keeps woodchips out of the nose. Amazing! Furthermore, the short duration of impact increases tolerance.

8. The woodpecker’s brain is configured to distribute the force evenly over the surface.

Whew! That was a lot of details and some COOL science!

Beyond the lack of headaches, there are just so many interesting things about woodpeckers.

• First — you can see them year-round here in Ohio, and all species are protected by the Federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

• Both sexes of woodpecker’s peck, or drum. Pecking is also a way of communication.

• Their bill is sharpened with every peck.

• Their brain is about 700 times smaller than humans.

• A woodpecker uses its tail and legs for support while pecking.

• Woodpeckers eat insects including ants, wasps and bees. Carpenter ants and termites are favorites. Their search of the larvae of carpenter bees is why they may peck at your house. Also, woodpeckers do not mean you have termites.

• Woodpeckers do not like herbs. They particularly dislike peppermint, lavender, basil, cinnamon and sand garlic. Some people spray vinegar to keep them away.

We had a cedar-sided house at one point. Lucky us, we had carpenter bees and woodpeckers when we lived there.

Since I was not a Master Gardener Volunteer with OSU Extension at the time, I read on some nonscientific website that covering the holes with aluminum foil would keep the woodpeckers away.

Apparently, the shining of the foil frightens them. It did work (or at least it seemed so), but our house started to look a little odd. We sided the house. A much more scientific solution.

In Ohio, we most often see the woodpecker, which is mostly black and white, the red-bellied woodpecker and my favorite — the red-headed woodpecker.

In the summertime the feast of insects and larva, in the winter, they love suet.

To learn more about this specific woodpecker, visit https://go.osu.edu/redbelliedwoodpecker

To learn more about this topic, check out https://go.osu.edu/birdheadaches

McKinley is an Ohio State University Extension Master Gardener Volunteer in Mahoning County.