# Do woodpecker beaks wear out? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 29, 2005, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-woodpecker-beaks-wear-out/301661 "2005-04-29T02:40:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DaveRaver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daveraver/32/1078_2.png) [@DaveRaver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveRaver)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-woodpecker-beaks-wear-out/301661/1 "2005-04-29T02:40:56Z")
Woodpecker beaks must be pretty sharp to pierce wood. I would imagine that they must lose their sharpness due to wear and tear. Am I right? How do they keep their beaks sharp? ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-woodpecker-beaks-wear-out/301661/2 "2005-04-29T02:59:53Z")
Yeah. And another thing I read in a magazine years ago was some guy doing studies on how they keep from scrambling their brains when they pound their heads on wood hard enough to dig a hole in the wood. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-woodpecker-beaks-wear-out/301661/3 "2005-04-29T14:49:53Z")
[Straightdope to the rescue](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mwoodpecker.html) as to why they don’t bash their brains out 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-woodpecker-beaks-wear-out/301661/4 "2005-04-29T14:52:51Z")
And as an aside, check out their [tongues](http://members.aol.com/wdg123123/woodpecker/bird2.jpg) :eek: ---
**Author:** ![KeithP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/85e7bf/32.png) [@KeithP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KeithP)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-woodpecker-beaks-wear-out/301661/5 "2005-04-29T15:04:33Z")
When I was at a park once walking my dogs I saw a woodpecker on top of a light pole that was used to light a baseball field just hammering away at the metal light fixture. That has to be one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-woodpecker-beaks-wear-out/301661/6 "2005-04-29T17:55:16Z")
> [@KeithP](#): > > When I was at a park once walking my dogs I saw a woodpecker on top of a light pole that was used to light a baseball field just hammering away at the metal light fixture. > > That has to be one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. Woodpeckers drum on anything that produces a “good” sound to advertise their territory. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2005, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-woodpecker-beaks-wear-out/301661/7 "2005-04-29T23:21:23Z")
> [@Gymnopithys](#): > > Woodpeckers drum on anything that produces a “good” sound to advertise their territory. Really? I thought they only hammered to extract grubs from under the tree bark. Is there a territorial thing going on too? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-woodpecker-beaks-wear-out/301661/8 "2005-04-30T00:03:12Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Really? I thought they only hammered to extract grubs from under the tree bark. Is there a territorial thing going on too? Yes. Woodpeckers deliberately make loud drumming sounds by pounding on trees, posts, aluminum siding, or whatever to advertise their territory. As for the OP, a bird’s horny beak grows, just like fingernails, so that the parts that are subject to wear get replaced. ---
**Author:** ![DaveRaver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daveraver/32/1078_2.png) [@DaveRaver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveRaver)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-woodpecker-beaks-wear-out/301661/9 "2005-04-30T00:09:54Z")
Oddly enough, I asked this question BEFORE finding out that they just discovered a rare breed of woodpecker long believed extinct. Quite an improbable series of events! ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2005, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-woodpecker-beaks-wear-out/301661/10 "2005-04-30T01:56:48Z")
The beak of a bird enjoys rejuvenation on a continual basis. I see this with my parrot, and also note a similar phenomenon with cat nails, as the outer sheath is shed.