The woodpecker bill's chisel-like tip is kept sharp by the pecking action on wood. With their smaller bill size, many piculets and wrynecks will forage in decaying wood more often than woodpeckers. The long sticky tongues, which have bristles, help the birds grab and extracting insects from deep in a hole of a tree. Detailed studies published in 2004 showed that the tongue wraps around the prey before being pulled out.
Many of the foraging, breeding and signalling behaviours of woodpeckers involve drumming and hammering using the bill. To prevent brain damage from the rapid and repeated decelerations, woodpeckers have a number of adaptations which protect the brain. These include small brain size, the orientation of the brain within the skull (which spreads the area of contact between the brain and the skull) and the short duration of contact.
The unequal length of the upper and lower parts of their beaks (the lower being longer), serves to steer the impact force downwards, away from the brain. Also, the woodpecker’s brain is held in a skull with uneven, spongy plates that absorb shock. Third, woodpeckers have a special hyoid bone, which reaches from their beak, loops over top of the skull to completely surround their brains. This acts to keep the brain in place. It is the movement of the brain inside the skull during impact, more than the blow itself, that causes concussions. If the brain is held in place, injury risks are greatly reduced.
The millisecond before contact with wood a thickened nictitating membrane closes, protecting the eye from flying debris. The nostrils are also protected; they are often slit-like and have special feathers to cover them.
Woodpeckers, piculets and wrynecks all have zygodactyl feet. These feet have four toes, the first and the fourth face backward, and the second and third face forward. This foot arrangement is good for grasping the limbs and trunks of trees. Members of this family can walk vertically up a tree trunk. In addition to the strong claws and feet, woodpeckers have short strong legs. This is typical of birds that regularly forage on trunks. The tails of all woodpeckers except the piculets and wrynecks are stiffened, and when the bird perches on vertical surfaces, the tail and feet work together to support it.
The wrynecks (genus "Jynx") are two species of small Old World woodpeckers.
They are very similar to true woodpeckers, but lack the stiff tail feathers that woodpeckers use when climbing trees. They are more likely to perch on a branch rather than an upright trunk. Their bills are shorter and less dagger-like than in the true woodpeckers. Their chief prey is ants and other insects, which they find in decaying wood or almost bare soil. They re-use woodpecker holes for nesting, rather than making their own holes. The eggs are white, as with many hole nesters.
These birds can turn their heads almost 180 degrees. When disturbed at the nest, they use this snake-like head twisting and hissing as a threat display. This odd behaviour led to their use in witchcraft, hence to put a "jinx" on someone.
Piri Reis
Piri Reis (full name Hadji Muhiddin Piri Ibn Hadji Mehmed) (about 1465 – 1554 or 1555) was an Ottoman-Turkish admiral and cartographer born between 1465 and 1470 in Gallipoli on the Aegean coast of Turkey. Today, people remember him because of the maps he made. He made the first Ottoman map to show parts of the Americas, the Piri Reis map, in 1513. He drew a second map in 1528. Only a fragment of that map survives today. That fragment however, shows parts of North America, including Greenland. It goes from the coast of Labrador and Newfoundland in the north, to Florida,Cuba and parts of Central America in the south. Therefore, some people believe he drew a map of the Arctic about 200 years before it was discovered.
Walter Sutton
Walter Stanborough Sutton (5 April 1877 – 10 November 1916) was an American biologist and surgeon. Sutton was born in Utica, New York and raised in Russell, Kansas. He got Bachelors and Masters degres from the University of Kansas. Sutton then went to Columbia University and got his doctorate in medicine in 1907.
In 1903 Sutton suggested that chromosomes, which segregate in a Mendelian fashion, are hereditary units. Edmund B. Wilson (1856–1939), Sutton's teacher, and the author of one of the most famous text-books in biology, called this the "Sutton–Boveri hypothesis".
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (TV series)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars is an American computer-animated television series created by George Lucas and by Lucasfilm and Lucasfilm Animation set during from Three Months after the Battle of Geonosis and before Revenge of the Sith when Anakin turns evil. The series became very popular around the world on Cartoon Network as U.S Cartoon Network owned rights for season 1-5 but as season 6 was relicenced to Netflix in U.S and Canada. Disney had cancelled the show due to want more of Star Wars Episode 7 and Star Wars Rebels but in September 7 2014 on star wars.com a story arc with rough animation reel was the unreleased episodes due to cancellation and Star Wars Son of Dathomir was turned in to a comic book and another one will come with Asajj Ventress in June 2015.
The Clone Wars has begin as the Jedi Knights struggle to maintain peace in the galaxy and are forced to lead the Clone army of the republic against the evil droids army of the Sith lead by Count Dooku, General Grievous and other villains.
The series was spinoff the 2D cartoon series made to a 3D series. George Lucas (executive producer) had first the idea as wanting to make a series based on the clone wars. George Lucas intended to make 100 episodes in five seasons.
The first set of episodes were combined to form a movie, which was released in theaters in 2008. Then the television series continued from there.
Lucasfilm had Originally produced 100 episodes divided in 5 seasons but Dave Filoni had confirmed on his Facebook a sixth season coming in Early 2014 on Netflix and a sixith season came with 11 episodes but there were still unfinished episodes and story arcs so the Clone Wars Legacy had an unreleased rought animatic story arc on starwars.com and turned in to comic books and novels.
In 2020, a seventh and final season was released on Disney Plus. This was an additional 12 episodes.
The series airs on Cartoon Network U.S and Cartoon Network Worldwide. First in U.S in 2008. Netflix had obtained rights for season six.
The seasons of the show was made in DVD released in volumes as Season Two Volume titled Commando Commanders. DVD called Return of Darth Maul containing Darth Maul return story arc and Asajj Ventress new life. After Season Six came on Netflix the season came on DVD titled "The Lost Missions'
Darth Maul
Darth Maul is a fictional character from the "Star Wars" universe. The character first appeared in the movie "" in 1999. Darth Maul has also been in many books set in the time period just before the Clone Wars. Darth Maul was played by Ray Park in the movie.
Darth Maul is the first known apprentice of Darth Sidious. Maul is a Sith lord who uses the Dark Side of the Force. Darth Maul has black and red tattoos covering his head and face, a crown of small horns, and evil yellow eyes. He uses a red, double bladed lightsaber as a weapon. He flies the starship "The Sith Infiltrator".