G.  Stephanie, aged 7, of Garfield, N. J. for hij question:

Does a woodpecker hurt a tree?

You would hate to have a woodpecker drive his sharp beak into you. But a tree does not feel the same way about it. In fact, a great oak tree feels no pain when a woodman cuts off one of its arms. And a tree feels no pain from the busy woodpecker either.

What’s more, the ‑woodpecker is helping the tree. Most of the time he pecks away looking for food. And his food is grubs, insects, bugs and flies. Some of these little things have taken cover under the tree's cozy bark, some are insect eggs and grubs waiting to grow. Most of these little creatures are pests to the tree. They loosen its bark. They even chew holes in its woodwork. The woodpecker dabs a hole with his sharp beak. Then he uses his wonderful tongue to scoop out the little pests and eat them up.

The sapsucker is a kind of woodpecker. He feeds on the liquid sap in the tree trunk. The sapsucker can do some harm to the tree, but not much. But the ordinary, tapping woodpecker is one of the  tree’s best friends.