Bony woodpecker tongue
If you thought head banging was the strangest part of being a woodpecker, think again. They also have an amazingly weird tongue.
Woodpeckers tounges include a bone, an extension of the hyoid bone found in many animals. It’s very long, in order to dip into trees and grab insects. Some tongues are sticky and some have barbed ends to spear insects.
Some tongues wrap entirely around woodpecker skulls
Barbed tongue tip
Even more peculiar, is that the tongue in some woodpeckers starts in the throat passes through the sinuses, out one nostril, wraps around the back of the head and goes back inside through the other nostril opening, all while still allowing the tip to be completely functional.
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