“Pecking is a full-body exercise,” says University of Alabama biologist Nicole Ackermans, who studies brain damage in ...

How does a small black and white bird, weighing only about an ounce, drive some homeowners around the bend? The culprit — the downy woodpecker — problematically lives up to its name: These diminutive ...

From their chisel-like beaks to their shock-absorbent skulls, woodpeckers are built for drilling holes. But new research reported by New Scientist suggests that one species may be using spores from ...

If you’ve ever been camping, or live in tree-dense areas, then you may have heard or seen a woodpecker. These birds love to use their beaks as jackhammers and buzz away at the trunks of trees to ...

In the past two weeks two people have urged me to write about woodpeckers. It seems that the birds have been loudly making their presence known by using their respective homes as drums, or even worse, ...

The woodpeckers are at it again and if you’re lucky they won’t be bothering you. But some people, largely by virtue of their home’s location, will be ‘up to here’ with woodpeckers by month’s end. It ...

Woodpeckers are notorious for pecking – or drumming – away at trees in search of food, a mate, and when nesting. But when they turn their attention to pecking your home, it can be frustrating. Aside ...

If a woodpecker wants a home, it does more than just knock on wood – it takes some tiny helpers with it. The red-cockaded woodpecker seems to carry spores of fungi that rot wood in what appears to be ...

Now a story about a mysterious noise - our colleague Sacha Pfeiffer was about to go live with me a few weeks ago when she heard it. She is a reporter on NPR's investigative team, so you know she had ...

Dear Readers, One of the most commonly asked questions of this column is how to deal with woodpeckers carving out holes in the siding and trim of wood sided homes. As anyone who has tried to ...