Why doesn't a woodpecker scramble its brain

Name: Why doesn't a woodpecker scramble its brain
Uploaded: 2026-10-30T12:49:29.615Z
Duration: 80 s
Description: The popular story says a woodpecker's skull cushions every peck. A 2022 high-speed study found the beak and the eye, right next to the brain, stop together: the head is a stiff hammer, and the brain takes up to 400 g. What protects it is mainly its size. A woodpecker's brain is about a seventh as long as ours, so it would have to hit about twice as fast to risk a concussion.

The popular story says a woodpecker's skull cushions every peck. A 2022 high-speed study found the beak and the eye, right next to the brain, stop together: the head is a stiff hammer, and the brain takes up to 400 g. What protects it is mainly its size. A woodpecker's brain is about a seventh as long as ours, so it would have to hit about twice as fast to risk a concussion.

0:00 Myth struck through
0:06 The popular answer
0:15 The high-speed test
0:31 Why no cushion
0:37 The full stop
0:46 Head taken apart
0:56 Small enough