piciformes

While it’s always advisable to fact-check and confirm for yourself, I think it’s rather delightful that when one solicits for weird trivia, the internet rarely fails to deliver.
Our absolute favourite new fact that we can vouch for—perfect for small talk at the office for as an icebreaker or ellipsis during lulls in conversation at holiday family gatherings—is regarding the anatomy of woodpeckers. The birds have quite long, sticky tongues not only for probing and slurping up insects and sap from bored holes but are wound around the skull through a specially evolved cavity to act as a cushion to protect the bird’s brain from the repeated, traumatic impact of pecking wood.