Woodpeckers grunt like tennis players

'They take the pecking that we see all birds doing and take it to the extreme.' Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. Woodpeckers really know how to punch above their weight. The woodland birds can attack a tree at about 15 miles per hour with their powerful beaks . To achieve this, woodpeckers essentially turn themselves into hammers, by bracing their head, neck, abdomen, and tail muscles to hold their bodies completely rigid when they pound into wood.