How often does a woodpecker knock on wood? Interesting facts about woodpeckers. The woodpecker has the most unusual language in the world

We welcome everyone who would not mind spending a couple of minutes to receive interesting information!
So, we have once again replenished the warehouse completely new products. The number of new products is not so great, but what a number!
We are proud to present to you our line of the most efficient and spectacular solar panels on Russian market– the Eclipse line from the Seraphim factory, which is included in the rating of the most reliable manufacturers(Bloomberg awarded Seraphim Solar TIER1 status back in 2015).

Two models are available to order solar panels Seraphim:

• Monocrystalline panel Eclipse SRP-320-E01B
• Polycrystalline panel Eclipse SRP-290-E11B

The first model is made in the size of a standard monocrystalline 270 W module and at the same time produces 320 environmentally friendly watts. The second model corresponds to the size of a 250 W polycrystalline module, but the efficiency of this panel is 290 Watts - higher than that of a classic monocrystalline battery of the same size. How did you achieve such efficiency? Very simple and difficult at the same time! There are no tricks or frauds: cells in solar Eclipse batteries laid in such a way that almost the entire panel area is occupied by silicon, and the efficiency of the entire battery becomes almost equal to the efficiency of the silicon cells of which it consists. True, the cells in Seraphim Eclipse solar panels are also not entirely simple - they are made using a special technology and can actually be “glued” to each other, which reduces losses on internal connections and also increases the final power.

In fact, at the moment, the premium monocrystalline solar battery Seraphim SRP-320-E01B is the most efficient one available on the Russian market.

Also, another addition has been made to the shelf of solar battery models supplied by our company: an innovative “transparent” solar battery GP Solar GPDP-265W60 265 Watt power:

This model is a completely new line of solar panels. Created from two sheets tempered glass, a thin and partially transparent (in our case 10%) solar panel is a clear trend in the world of solar energy. Anticipating and perhaps even anticipating the imminent rush of builders and architects, as well as ordinary users, we present you this New Product. Transparent solar panels are suitable for those who are interested not just in the “utilitarian” component of a solar power plant, but also in realizing their creative, aesthetic needs. One or two years ago, translucent panels were just a curious novelty at specialized exhibitions, but having met with explosive interest from consumers around the world, Dual Glass products appeared in every self-respecting manufacturer. The futuristic design clearly hints at the need to use it in architectural elements– after all, being next to such a panel, the future becomes not only visible, but also tangible.

In addition to their standard purpose as an attribute of roofs and ground areas, such panels can be used as the main surface of a wall, fence, canopy, they can become an excellent alternative to window glass, or the heart of an architectural composition - we leave this question to your discretion. Note that the strength of these panels is sufficient for an adult to stand comfortably on their surface ( load bearing capacity is 5400 Pa).

Of course, frameless technology, which has previously proven itself well in Pramac and Hevel micromorphic modules, is by no means new, however, in comparison with analogues, these batteries are significantly more efficient. Power density of GPSolar GPDP-265W60 transparent solar cells is 16.11%, which is more than 2 times higher than that of micromorphic solar cells. This is an undeniable advantage when organizing solar power plant on a limited area of ​​the roof or canopy.
Among other things, a frameless solar panel with two layers of glass has a longer service life because, unlike traditional solar panels with aluminum frame is not affected by the difference between the temperature deformation of the aluminum frame and glass (which over the years leads to damage to the structure, especially in Russia, where solar panels are subject to large temperature changes every year).

As for mounting frameless solar panels, there are no difficulties with this either. Our company has been supplying high-quality batteries for many years, which installers of this type of batteries throughout the country have long known about.

I received a batch of solar panels with a power of 100 watts, 12 volt poly crystal, in this video you can see how much solar panels have been reduced in price to maintain a low price. In this video I will show you the first shortcomings that I saw immediately on this panel after I took it out. Again, the place on the map ended at the wrong moment, so I’ll add some text from here.

Solar cells are used with an efficiency of 22% and 4 busbars per element, this is a good plus, but if you consider that the wires that were installed are ordinary copper and the real cross-section is 2.5 square, and they are not soldered, but rolled. So, this is either a minus or something free gift. Since the MC4 connectors that are used on the wires, and the box itself with rubber bands for IP65 are made of very Low quality plastic. Moreover, if the box is made of a still tolerable quality of plastic, then the MC4s are disposable. If you don’t plan to permanently deploy it outside, then you can still live with it. But if you are taking such panels specifically for permanent installation, then you should immediately stock up on high-quality wires, plugs for boxes and high-quality MC4 connectors.

But the wires in this batch are already long, check or connect temporarily. But I still recommend using other connectors and wires of at least 6 squares.

As for the panel profile, there is a clear reduction in price by almost half compared to the panels of 2016. But this is probably the only manufacturer on the market with such an affordable price for a solar panel. After all, the most important thing is not wires and boxes or profiles, but glass, a sandwich made of plastic and EVA film, and solar cells.

More short test The 2017 solar panel has already been filmed and will appear a little later. In this video I give information to those who still console themselves with the hope that the price will be lower, but the panels will still be of higher quality. Unfortunately, the cost of panels varies due to various factors, and the honesty of resellers also has a strong influence on inflating the cost per unit solar energy, which may not be justifiably inflated given the poor build quality of the panel.

And we have few experts on the quality of assembly of solar panels, and in order to know something about the panels you need to have an understanding of the market and changing trends in the assembly of solar panels. Find out how casino players make real money by playing online slot machines.

This video was filmed on the day the solar panels were received by the Exmork company this year.

Woodpeckers are the construction workers of the bird world. While other species make nests out of grass and sticks, woodpeckers make holes in the hardest trees to create cavities, find prey living under the bark, and release tree sap.

However, these birds do not need safety helmets or special glasses to protect them from pieces of wood hitting them on the head or from wood chips flying into their eyes. They have their own great ways to avoid brain damage and blindness.

10. Preventing brain injury in woodpeckers

The life of woodpeckers is literally full strong blows. Imagine if a person hit a tree face-first at full speed. A woodpecker can strike a tree trunk 100 times per minute and at speeds of up to 24 kilometers per hour. While a human would likely end up in the hospital after the first strike, a woodpecker does not experience any discomfort after multiple strikes. It makes an average of 12,000 beats per day and lives for more than 10 years.

The braking force from such repeated impacts reaches an incredible 1000 Gs, placing incredible stress on the neck, skeleton and face of these birds. It's understandable that scientists would like to know how woodpeckers manage to avoid brain injury. Their protection lies not only in a hard skull. On this moment Scientists have identified three distinctive factors that allow the woodpecker to withstand repeated head impacts: powerful neck muscles, a flexible back, and a tongue that wraps around the skull.

Scientists from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University observed the movements of woodpeckers, filmed using slow motion. They assessed their skulls and created computer simulations to understand exactly what happens when a woodpecker hits a tree with its beak. The supporting bone that runs around the skull, known as the "hyoid bone", acts like a seat belt to prevent brain damage, while the upper and lower parts of the beak are of different lengths, reducing the transfer of forces.

Finally, some skull bones have a spongy and plate-like structure that distributes incoming forces and reduces the stress that would otherwise be placed on the brain. Overall, the woodpecker's head and neck work together to keep the bird in top shape, despite its lifestyle.

9. Woodpeckers have sharp spines on their tails.

Photo: B. Walker

Woodpeckers have exceptional physical endurance and the ability to climb trees. The tail of the woodpecker, adapted to life on a tree trunk, is studded with sharp spines that dig into the tree bark. When a woodpecker clings to a tree trunk with its unique claws, its tail acts as a third leg or "support" to help the bird maintain balance.

When a woodpecker hits a tree with all its might to find insects or to hollow out a nest, it can rely on the spines of its tail, which, together with its feet, create a kind of tripod, giving it stability and balance. Like its specially adapted claws, the woodpecker's tail spines allow it to securely anchor itself to a tree and climb up quickly and easily. They help the bird not to fall down, no matter in what position and with what force he hits the tree.
The woodpecker's tail is especially impressive when spread, with a huge number of sharp peaks at the end, which are strikingly different from the broad feathers towards the base of the tail.

8. The resourcefulness of the melanerpes ant

Most woodpeckers knock on trees to catch insects or create nests, but the woodpecker, native to the western United States, Mexico and Central America, is a notable exception. This clown-like bird with wide-set eyes and colorful feathers is unusually industrious and has a rich social life based on hoarding and mating. Ant melanerpes feed and breed in a group where many birds tend the same nest during the mating season.

By creating hundreds of holes in oak trees in their permanent territory, these woodpeckers hide acorns in miniature cavities in the wood. Birds defend their acorn trees, or “buckets,” as a group because they depend entirely on acorns for survival. When it comes time to feed on them, woodpeckers take the acorns from the tree, which can appear as if riddled with bullet holes due to the sheer number of acorns stored in it. In one case, the stucco of a house was used by melanerpes ants as a storehouse for acorns, causing doorjamb looked like the scene of a serious shootout.

7. Woodpeckers

Most woodpeckers are named for their ability to knock on trees to retrieve insects, obtain sap, or create nests. This is why the name woodpecker seems to be a misnomer. The ground woodpecker, with its ghostly yellow eyes, gray feathers and reddish feather tips to match the rocks and soil, primarily finds food by knocking on the ground rather than on wood. These birds live exclusively in South Africa, Swaziland and Lesotho. They live in barren mountainous regions dotted with rocky slopes, grass, and boulder fields.

The largest woodpecker in this area is the 30-centimeter ground woodpecker (Geocolaptes olivaceus), which prowls among rocks and wastelands in search of its prey - ants. Although this woodpecker gets almost all the nutrients it needs by eating ants, it also feeds on termites and other insects. The woodpecker's long, sticky, retractable tongue can penetrate narrow spaces and easily remove insects from there.

Working together, male and female ground woodpeckers use their powerful beaks to dig tunnels and egg-laying cavities in the earthen walls of their nests. After their young hatch, both parents regurgitate digested insects to feed the chicks.

6. Zygodactyl feet


Photo: Wolfgang Wander

Despite their ability to fly, most birds cannot climb up tree bark. Songbirds have feet with three toes pointing forward and one toe pointing backward. With the help of their paws, they can walk, wade, swim, or hold on to a branch. They are especially useful when sitting on a branch, because the muscles of their legs contract in such a way that the bird cannot fall even in sleep.

Although woodpeckers have a different toe pattern than other birds, their feet are also adapted to prevent them from falling. Unlike songbirds, woodpeckers have a zygodactyl arrangement of toes, with two toes pointing forward and two toes pointing backward, as in mirror image. As the woodpecker grabs the bark and moves up the tree as if jumping, the spines on its tail provide additional support, preventing it from falling. Two hind toes on each foot and spikes on the tail provide strong support for the bird and prevent it from falling during the powerful strikes it makes against the tree.

5. The relationship between the suckling woodpecker and the hummingbird


Photo: Kevin Cole

In North American forests, four species of woodpeckers gouge tiny holes in the trunks of some trees to extract sap and eat insects attracted to the sap. These woodpeckers are the pine sucker, yellow-bellied sucker, red-capped sucker, and red-breasted sucker. These woodpeckers have developed a special partnership with hummingbirds that benefits both. When suckling woodpeckers gouge holes in the bark to extract sap, hummingbirds follow them to feed there as well.

In turn, hummingbirds drive away more large birds, which try to eat from holes hollowed out by suckling woodpeckers, which keeps food safe for both woodpeckers and hummingbirds. Despite the fact that many birds love tree sap, most of them do not have beaks designed to gouge the necessary holes in the bark of trees.

Hummingbirds need nutrients ah from nectar to survive. However, when they fly north in the spring, cold weather can slow the appearance of flowers and cause a shortage of nectar for hummingbirds. Tree sap is excellent alternative source nutrition, since the composition of the juice is similar to the composition of nectar. Like nectar, tree sap is full of nutrients, including sugars, minerals and amino acids.

These woodpeckers feed on sap only in spring and summer. When the sap dries up, they eat insects, nuts and fruits.

4. Cactus Specialists


Gila woodpeckers, endemic to the deserts and surrounding areas of the southwestern United States and Mexico, use carnegia - giant cacti, similar to trees that can reach 13 meters in height and 3 meters in girth, for obtaining food and creating nests. These birds, which measure just over 25 centimeters, are predominantly brown in color with a striking checkered back and red markings on the head. In addition to insects, they eat cactus fruits and berries.

Gila woodpeckers, with their strong beaks, play an important role in maintaining the health of carnegias by killing insects and eating damaged areas, which heals these cacti.

These birds create new nesting sites every year. After Gila woodpeckers leave their nests, they are used for the same purposes by other animals, such as elf owls, rodents, reptiles and others. Due to human development in their habitat, Gila woodpeckers have adapted to this by sometimes consuming nectar from hummingbird feeders.

3. Protection from sawdust and wood chips

In addition to their tails, which birds use as frames, and strong skulls that absorb shock, woodpeckers have bristles, or soft feathers, around their nostrils that protect their noses from injury. Special air bags are also removed sawdust from the bird's nostrils. These devices are especially useful when woodpeckers gouge holes in trees, as this produces a lot of sawdust and chips that fly close to their heads.

The smallest North American woodpecker, the 15-centimeter downy woodpecker, has the most prominent setae around its nostrils. These beautiful black and white birds, only the male has a few red feathers on the back of his head. Downy woodpeckers are found throughout the United States, from Florida to Alaska.

All woodpeckers have another adaptation to protect their eyes from flying wood chips when they gouge holes in the bark. This device is a transparent third eyelid, called the “nictitating membrane.” This membrane closes just before the woodpecker strikes the tree with its beak. The bird can see through this membrane, which also clears the eye by passing over the eyeball.

2. Mukholov


Photo: Alan Vernon

Lewis's dusky and iridescent woodpecker was discovered during the Lewis and Clark Expedition, the first exploration of the western United States in the early 1800s. This species is a notable exception among woodpeckers. Lewis's woodpecker, endemic open spaces And park areas with pine or oak trees, has habitual skills, but mainly uses them to make cavities for housing. These woodpeckers typically don't knock on wood to eat boring insects.

Instead, the Lewis's woodpecker eats insects from the surface of a tree, but most often observes from a dead tree or pole before flying out to catch the insect in the air. In autumn and winter, these birds eat acorns, fruits, seeds and other nuts.

The Lewis woodpecker is one of the largest woodpeckers in the United States. Its body length is 28 centimeters. This bird flies better than most woodpeckers. Its superior gliding ability and slow wingbeats make it more like a raven in flight than any other species of woodpecker.

1. Witchcraft of spinners

Among other strange skills, the whirligig can turn its head violently back and hiss like a snake. The scientific name of this bird is “Jynx torquilla”, which refers to witchcraft and magic, as if the bird can put the evil eye on someone. Two species of whirlwinds have strange mottled feathers and are also very small in size and look more like sparrows than woodpeckers. Their diet consists almost exclusively of ants. A large gland under the whirligig's beak produces viscous saliva, which the bird uses to capture prey.

These birds nest in wooded areas and often feed on the ground. If the whirligig senses danger, it will turn its head 180 degrees to face its attacker and begin to hiss threateningly like a snake. This creepy defensive tactic has led to the myth that the attacker is cursed. Because of this, some shamans and sorcerers call on this bird when casting spells. In winter, these birds migrate to Africa. Currently, the number of vertichniki has noticeably decreased due to habitat loss.

A woodpecker makes about 12 thousand head blows a day, without causing any harm to itself! This amazing fact defied any explanation, because this creates an overload 1 thousand times greater than during free fall.

It has been established that some species of woodpeckers, in the process of chiseling the bark of a tree, are capable of moving their beaks at a speed of almost 25 km/h! At the same time, his head is thrown back with a huge negative acceleration, which is more than twice as large as what astronauts experience at launch! More recently, a group of scientists from China were able to answer the question: “Why doesn’t a woodpecker have a headache?”


It turns out that the woodpecker has several unique abilities, and interesting structure heads.
For the first time, two American scientists, Ivan Schwob from the University of California at Davis and Philip May from the University of California at Los Angeles, who in 2006 received a Ignobelevskaya prize (this is a prize that scientists receive for “discoveries that first cause only laughter, and then make you think.”
By the way. In the world of science, this prize is no less popular than the Nobel Prize).
Biologists have studied this mechanism using the example of the golden-fronted woodpecker (Melanerpes aurifrons), which lives in the forests of the United States, but believe that, apparently, such a security system is characteristic of all representatives of woodpeckers (Piciformes).

So why doesn't a woodpecker get a concussion? Firstly, because its super-hard beak hits the trunk strictly perpendicular to the surface of the latter, does not bend or vibrate from the impact. This is ensured by the coordinated work of the neck muscles - during “chipping” work, only those muscles that are responsible for moving the head back and forth are active, and those that carry out lateral movements of the neck are inactive. That is, the woodpecker physically cannot deviate from the chosen course.

In addition, the skull of this bird and its brain are separated only by thin layer intracranial fluid, which does not allow vibrations to gain enough strength to have a dangerous effect on the brain. In addition, this liquid is quite viscous, so it immediately extinguishes all waves arising from the impact that can damage the most important nerve center.
The hyoid also plays an important role in protecting the brain from concussions. essential element the hyoid bone of birds, which itself is more cartilage than actual bone tissue. In woodpeckers it is extremely developed, very extensive and extended, located not only in the pharynx (as in mammals), but also extends into the nasopharynx, first wrapping around the skull. That is, inside the skull of this bird there is an additional elastic shock absorber.

Moreover, as the study showed internal structure woodpecker cranial bones, almost all of them contain spongy porous tissue, which is an additional shock absorber. In this respect, the woodpecker's skull is more similar to that of a chick than of an adult bird (in which the proportion of spongy matter in the bones is extremely small). So those vibrations that could not be “damped” by the cranial fluid and hyoid are “calmed” by the spongy substance of the bones.

Red-headed Woodpecker
In addition, the woodpecker also has a kind of “safety belt” for the eyes - during a strike, the third eyelid (nictitating membrane) falls over the eye of this bird to protect the eyeball from vibration and prevent retinal detachment. So the vision of woodpeckers, despite their “hollow” lifestyle, is always fine.
And, of course, in order to fit all these security systems into the skull, woodpeckers had to significantly reduce the surface of their brain. However, this did not make them any more stupid than other birds - on the contrary, the woodpecker is very smart and has quite complex territorial and nesting behavior. The fact is that, unlike mammals, in birds the processes of higher rational activity do not occur in the cerebral cortex at all, but in the underlying striatal corpuscles and a layer called hyperstriatum. And these parts of the brain are initially not very occupied large area, because the neurons in them are quite densely packed. Therefore, a woodpecker can easily shrink its brain without harming its intelligence.

Golden Avoceted Woodpecker
So, what can this smart bird teach people? Yes, at least how to develop perfect shockproof structures. Similar work was recently done by American scientists from the Bioengineering Laboratory at the University of Berkeley. Careful study of time-lapse video footage of the woodpeckers' chiselling behavior and tomography data allowed them to develop an artificial damping (i.e., safety) system similar to that of woodpeckers.
The role of a super-hard beak in an artificial damper can be played by a durable outer shell - for example, steel or titanium. The function of intracranial fluid in this device takes on the second, inner layer of metal, separated from the outer, steel, elastic layer. Under it there is a layer of hard, but at the same time elastic rubber - an analogue of hyoid. And the “substitute” for spongy structures is to fill the entire empty volume under this rubber with tightly packed glass beads about one millimeter in size. It has been proven that they very effectively “spray” the impact energy and block the transmission of dangerous vibrations to the most valuable central part, for the sake of which all these systems exist - that is, a certain “brain”.

Green ("gray-haired") woodpecker
Such a damper, according to the developers, can protect various fragile structures, such as electronics, from strong impacts. You can place “black boxes” of aircraft, on-board computers of ships in such a shell, or use it in the development of new generation ejection devices. It is possible that this shell can also be used in a car body as an additional damper.
After creating a miniature prototype, the researchers conducted the first tests of this shell. They placed it in a bullet and used a gas gun to shoot it into a thick sheet of aluminum. The overload from the impact reached 60,000 g, but the damper effectively protected the hidden electronic stuffing. Means, this system works quite effectively. Now developers are working on creating the same damper in larger sizes.

Chinese scientists have studied the woodpecker's protection from shock and vibration, which they believe can help create new anti-shock materials and structures that can be used in various fields human activity. Engineers of the State Laboratory of Structural Analysis for industrial equipment Dalian University discovered that the woodpecker's entire body works as an excellent shock-proof mechanism, absorbing impact energy.
A bird pecks a tree with a very high frequency(about 25 Hertz) and speed (about seven meters per second), which is 1000 times greater than the earth's gravity. Scientists have made a special 3D computer model, using CT scans to understand exactly how woodpeckers protect their brains from damage.
Scientists have found that most of the impact energy is accumulated by the bird's body (99.7%) and only 0.3% falls on the woodpecker's head. Part of the impact energy is absorbed by the bird's beak, and another part by the bird's hyoid bone. And that small part of the energy that still falls on the woodpecker’s head is converted into heat, which is why the temperature of the brain increases greatly.
The bird is forced to take breaks between pecking at the tree in order to reduce this temperature.