Air Date: Week of November 24, 2023

A nuthatch (left) and pileated woodpecker (right). Both birds climb trees to hunt for insects living in the bark, but their feet have evolved differently, and woodpeckers are adept at climbing up, while nuthatches can easily go up or down the tree. (Photo: putneypics and Gregg Thompson IG)

Time and again nature has come up with diverse ways that species can succeed in their environments. Birds have feathers to keep them aloft, while bats use a thin membrane of skin stretched over their wing bones. And in today’s BirdNote®, Mary McCann tells us how two species of birds have evolved different ways to move around their forest homes.

Transcript

DOERING: It’s Living on Earth, I’m Jenni Doering

CURWOOD: And I’m Steve Curwood.

[BIRDNOTE THEME]

CURWOOD: Time and again nature has come up with diverse ways that species can succeed in their environments. Birds have feathers to keep them aloft, while bats use a thin membrane of skin stretched over their wing bones. And in today’s BirdNote, Mary McCann tells us of how two species of birds have evolved different ways to move around their forest homes.

BirdNote®

There's More Than One Way to Climb a Tree

There’s more than one way to climb a tree.

[Pileated Woodpecker drum, http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/190889, in first 10 seconds of cut]

No bird is better adapted for climbing up a tree trunk than a woodpecker. Its foot design is ideal for clinging, with two toes pointing forward and two back. Relatively short legs mean it can anchor itself securely. And the spiky central feathers in its long, stiff tail dig into the bark, bracing the bird against the tree while climbing. So when traveling upward, the woodpecker’s a master. Hitching down? Not so much — usually they’ll fly.

[White-breasted Nuthatch, http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/120214, 0.04-.07]

Nuthatches are also expert climbers, but they can easily go up and down. A nuthatch’s tail is shorter than a woodpecker’s, but its legs are longer and very strong. It walks over the bark by grasping with one leg while using the other for a prop. And it has a rear-facing toe equipped with a long, sharp claw that’s ideal for hanging on while heading downward.

[White-breasted Nuthatch, http://macaulaylibrary.org/audio/120214, 0.04-.07]

One way these different climbing adaptations play out: Primarily, nuthatches search for insects in the crevices of bark while climbing down, while woodpeckers forage as they climb up. So one sees prey that the other doesn’t.

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Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Pileated Woodpecker ML 190889 recorded by F. R. Fuenzalida. White-breasted Nuthatch ML 120214 recorded by G.A. Keller.
BirdNote’s theme music was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
Written by Bob Sundstrom
Producer: John Kessler
Executive Producer: Dominic Black
© 2015 Tune In to Nature.org September 2018/2021 / October 2023
Narrator: Mary McCann
ID #: climbing-01-2021-9-18climbing-01

https://www.birdnote.org/listen/shows/theres-more-one-way-climb-tree

CURWOOD: For pictures, hop on over to our website, loe dot org. And our good friends at BirdNote are having a special online event that you won’t want to miss. Author and illustrator David Sibley and actor H. Jon Benjamin, who you might recognize as the lead voice in the animated shows Archer and Bob’s Burgers, will face off in a bird drawing throwdown on November 30th. Just go to loe dot org to learn more and sign up.

 

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