HOW DO WOODPECKERS EXTRACT GRUBS WITH THEIR TONGUES? A STUDY OF THE GUADELOUPE WOODPECKER (MELANERPES HERMINIERI) IN THE FRENCH WEST INDIES

Pascal Villard; Jacques Cuisin

doi:10.1642/0004-8038(2004)121[0509:HDWEGW]2.0.CO;2

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Pascal Villard,^1,* Jacques Cuisin^2,**

¹aAEVA, c/° Pavis, Hauteurs Lézarde, 97170 Petit-Bourg, Guadeloupe, French West Indies
²bMuséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Laboratoire Mammiferes et Oiseaux, 55 rue Buffon, F-75005 Par

^*Present address: 10 rue de la Gare, 39110 Andelot en Montagne, France
^**Address correspondence to this author. cuisin@cimrs1.mnhn.fr

Abstract

We held an adult Guadeloupe Woodpecker (Melanerpes herminieri) in captivity for two weeks and documented its tongue movements as it caught grubs placed into holes that had been excavated out of a log. We provide evidence that the Guadeloupe Woodpecker does not spear grubs with its tongue but instead grabs them with the tongue's horny tip, which is barbed and coated with saliva, and pulls them out of the holes.

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Pascal Villard and Jacques Cuisin "HOW DO WOODPECKERS EXTRACT GRUBS WITH THEIR TONGUES? A STUDY OF THE GUADELOUPE WOODPECKER (MELANERPES HERMINIERI) IN THE FRENCH WEST INDIES," The Auk 121(2), 509-514, (1 April 2004). https://doi.org/10.1642/0004-8038(2004)121[0509:HDWEGW]2.0.CO;2

Received: 7 May 2003; Accepted: 22 January 2004; Published: 1 April 2004

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