Ares's Woodpecker/Origin

Origin
Woodpeckers are one of the sacred animals of Ares. According to the biographer Plutarch, the woodpecker is sacred to Ares because "it is a courageous and spirited bird and has a beak so strong that it can overturn oaks by pecking them until it has reached the inmost part of the tree". As the beak of the picus Martius (Woodpecker) contained the god's power to ward off harm, it was carried as a magic charm to prevent bee stings and leech bites. The bird of Ares also guarded a woodland herb used for treatment of the digestive or female reproductive systems; those who sought to harvest it were advised to do so by night, lest the woodpecker jab out their eyes.