Acorn Woodpecker

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Acorn Woodpecker, male, Mt. Lemmon, Fall 2019

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Acorn Woodpecker, female, Mt. Lemmon, Fall 2019.  The female has a black band between the white forehead and the red head. 

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For the Acorn Woodpecker, it is hard to beat the description on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology site: "Reminiscent of a troupe of wide-eyed clowns, Acorn Woodpeckers live in large groups in western oak woodlands. Their social lives are endlessly fascinating: they store thousands of acorns each year by jamming them into specially made holes in trees. A group member is always on alert to guard the hoard from thieves, while others race through the trees giving parrotlike waka-waka calls. Their breeding behavior is equally complicated, with multiple males and females combining efforts to raise young in a single nest."

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Male, tending to a granary tree, Mt. Lemmon, Fall 2019.  These dead trees are their storehouse for acorns during the winter months, and are almost constantly maintained by members of the group.

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For more on Acorn Woodpeckers, see this blog post from 2020

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