This is bird note. There's more than one way to climb a tree.

No bird is better adapted for climbing up a tree trunk than a woodpecker.

Its foot design is ideal for clinging, with two toes pointing forward and two back.

Relatively short legs mean it can anchor itself securely.

And the spiky central feathers in its long stiff tail

dig into the bark, bracing the bird against the tree while climbing.

So when traveling upward, the woodpecker is a master.

Hitching down, not so much.

Usually they'll fly.

Nut hatches are also expert climbers, but they can easily go up and down. A nut hatches tail is shorter than a woodpeckers, but its legs are longer and very strong.

It walks over the bark by grasping with one leg while using the other for a prop.

And it has a rear-facing toe equipped with a long sharp claw that's ideal for hanging on

while heading downward.

One way these different climbing adaptations play out,

primarily nut hatches search for insects in the crevices of bark while climbing down,

while woodpeckers forage as they climb up.

So, one sees prey that the other doesn't. For Bird Note, I'm Mary McCann. You're going to be.