“While walking on Telok Blangah Hill on Friday afternoon, in light rain, we noticed a pair of what … Laced Woodpeckers (Picus vittatus). Later we saw them on the ground, apparently eating worms that had been disturbed by the rain.”
Jane, Singapore
1st August 2010
Note: Woodpeckers are normally seen on tree trunks chipping into the wood to get at insect grubs or seeking out ants and other insects from the surface or under pieces of bark. This is a not too common image of a Laced Woodpecker descending to the ground to catch what looks like a worm.
Editor’s Comment
The current editor thanks Joe Tobias for pointing out the mystery of the long tongue that is easily mistaken for a worm.
2 responses
That is not a worm. It is the woodpecker’s tongue! It is incredibly long and used to extract ants and their eggs from ant-nests on the ground, as with other Picus woodpeckers. Look up “Green Woodpecker tongue” if you don’t believe me.
Dear Joe,
Thank you for pointing out the incredibly long tongues of Picus woodpeckers. Yes, I think it is the tongue and not a worm.