The woodpecker is a creature that breaks the rules of evolution in such a way that it could not possibly have evolved. Consider these nine unique features that together declare the Creator of woodpeckers.
The first is its industrial-strength beak which was designed to hammer into the hardest of trees. Secondly, its feet have two toes at the front and two in the back. This feature allows it to crawl on a tree all directions and positions. Thirdly, its unique tail feathers are spongy, yet strong and tough and able to spread out and bend so that they can be used, along with its feet, to tripod on a tree and stabilize itself for drilling into wood.
Now you have to ask, why don’t woodpeckers have terrible headaches from all the drilling? The answer is the fourth and fifth unique feature. Between the beak and skull is a special cartilage that absorbs the pressure of drilling. The skull is the thickest bone per body weight of any creature and its brain is tightly encased within the skull. In fact, brain surgeons study this anatomy to see how best to prevent brain trauma in humans.
Even with all of these unique features, the woodpecker would still have another problem if it were not for its amazing design. Once the hole is drilled, how does it get the larva out of the tree? Unlike most birds, the woodpecker’s tongue does not end at his beak, which brings us to the sixth feature. Its tongue can extend up to ten inches past its beak allowing it to reach the larva, but how does he get it out? On the end of its tongue, the woodpecker has a spear like tip and little barbs that point rearward on the body of the tongue allowing it to literally stab the larva, sinking the barb into it. It also has a little factory, feature seven, that coats its tongue with a glue-like substance so the larva is held in place until it reaches the beak. To prevent it from swallowing its tongue with the bug, which is glued on, and strangling itself, amazingly feature eight kicks in. Another chemical that is manufactured in its mouth dissolves the glue allowing the bug to be swallowed alone and the woodpecker survives to get another bug.
The ninth feature is its eyes and eyelids. Woodpeckers open their eyes with each peck to the tree, focus on the drilling spot, aim, then close their eyes and drill 15 to 16 times a second! Closing its eyes each time allows its especially strong eyelids to protect its eyes from any wood chips and the force of drilling. The drilling impact has been measured and is so powerful that without these special features, the eyes would literally pop out of its head. The woodpecker never forgets to close its eyes.
Lastly, let’s look at the tongue of the European green woodpecker. Dr. Martin thinks this may be unique from any other creature in our world. Its tongue starts in the back of the throat, goes down the neck and into the back of the neck, up over the top of the head, comes out a little hole between the eyes, down into one nostril and then out the beak. Dr. Martin has asked evolutionists how and where this came from. They say it came from another creature, but no other creature has a tongue like this. In reality, they actually have no idea. Dr. Martin believes that God made this woodpecker to challenge the evolutionary community who know that this tongue could not have just evolved.
Praise God for this wonderful creation He has given us the privilege to explore and by which we learn more about Him.
Adapted from materials by Dr. Jobe Martin, D.M.D., TH.M.