Woodpecker
['wʊdpekə] or ['wʊdpɛkɚ]
Definition
(noun.) bird with strong claws and a stiff tail adapted for climbing and a hard chisel-like bill for boring into wood for insects.
Typed by Humphrey--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) Any one of numerous species of scansorial birds belonging to Picus and many allied genera of the family Picidae.
Typed by Ann
Examples
- Can a more striking instance of adaptation be given than that of a woodpecker for climbing trees and seizing insects in the chinks of the bark? Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Puts a man in mind of the country house in the Woodpecker-tapping, that was known by the smoke which so gracefully curled. Charles Dickens. Bleak House.
- Hence this Colaptes, in all the essential parts of its structure, is a woodpecker. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Yet in North America there are woodpeckers which feed largely on fruit, and others with elongated wings which chase insects on the wing. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- The beak, however, is not so straight or so strong as in the typical woodpeckers but it is strong enough to bore into wood. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
Typist: Phil