The Feathered Drummer Boy

by Terri Kammerzell

Truth of Genesis Ministry Partner

I chose this special Thanksgiving-Eve edition of my weekly blog based on the fact that it is also the 80th anniversary of the first appearance of the “Woody Woodpecker” cartoon character. Designed by Alex Lovy and voiced by Mel Blanc, Woody was a side character, pestering a father-son panda duo in the cartoon titled Knock Knock.

Over the years, this little cartoon character evolved into a well-known star of his own right, with new voice talent and even his own theme song and catch phrases. “Evolve” in this case means that he changed and adapted over time—with help—to match his surroundings and audience base. Nobody would ever try to suggest that he spontaneously came to be without the thoughtfulness of a creative designer.

But what about real woodpeckers? Is there any evidence to suggest they had a creative Designer as well?

What is one amazing feature of the woodpecker?
Woodpeckers have long sticky tongues to pull bugs out of trees.

Although I have multiple resources to learn more about the woodpecker on my website, my hands-down favorite is to listen to Dr. Jobe Martin from Biblical Discipleship Ministries talk about the woodpecker in volume 1 of his series Incredible Creatures that Defy Evolution. You can purchase that DVD here, or even watch it on  Prime Video.

Here are some additional amazing features to know about woodpeckers:

• Compared to other birds, their beaks are stronger; their tail feathers are tougher and more resilient; and their feet are designed differently, with two toes in front and two toes in back so they can climb vertical tree trunks with their bodies in any direction.
• Between its skull and beak, a woodpecker has special shock-absorbing cartilage which keeps its brain from exploding with the forceful impact of each rat-a-tap-tapping peck.
• Woodpeckers’ brains are so incredible that brain surgeons study them to better learn how to repair and protect human brains, especially from concussion.
• Some woodpeckers have such a long tongue that it wraps around the back of their skull and over the top of their head! A woodpecker’s tongue can be up to 1/3 of the length of its body. If your tongue followed that proportion, it would be about 1.5-2 feet long!
• Woodpeckers have barbs on the tips of their tongues to stab bug larvae. But just in case that’s not good enough, they also have built-in glue-making factories that make their tongues so sticky that the bugs stick to them. Before they swallow, their built-in solvent factories go to work to dissolve the glue so they don’t swallow their tongues!
• Between each and every peck, the woodpecker opens his eyes, aims, and closes his eyes again. The force of each peck is so intense that if he didn’t keep his eyes closed, they would pop out of his head.

Wow!! These are just some of the amazing features of yet another animal whose irreducible complexity shouts the truth of a creative Designer. Makes me think of Romans 1:20, where God reminds us that “His invisible attributes are . . . understood by the things that are made” (NKJV). And while there are many more examples besides this little drumming wonder, as far as what I have to share this week: that’s all, folks!

Don’t just take my word for it! Visit YouFormedMe.com/animals/woodpecker.html to read, watch, and listen to supporting research and commentary from scientists, doctors, theologians, and more!
This blog is from a special series of “Creation Fun Facts” by Terri Kammerzell, starting from June 10, 2020. Read the introduction at TruthOfGenesis.com/blogs/building-a-biblical-defense-of-creation.