Meaning: The woodpeckers were hitting the tree's bark with their beaks.
Choice of Words: "Woodpeckers" are the birds doing the pecking. "Pecked" means they were hitting the bark with their beaks. "At the bark" tells us where they were pecking.
Alternative Expressions
The woodpeckers hammered on the tree's skin.
Meaning: Birds with strong beaks hit the bark of a tree repeatedly.
Choice of Words: **Woodpeckers:** Birds with strong, chisel-like beaks. **Hammered:** Hit repeatedly with a hard object. **Tree's skin:** The bark of the tree.
The tree's doctors tapped on its shell.
Meaning: Woodpeckers, which help trees by eating insects, hit the bark of a tree lightly with their beaks.
Choice of Words: **Tree's doctors:** Woodpeckers, which help trees by eating insects that can harm them. **Tapped:** Hit lightly with a finger or other object. **Shell:** The bark of the tree.