Acorn Woodpecker
ACWO
Melanerpes formicivorus
ORDER: Piciformes
FAMILY: Picidae
Rio Grande Valley, Texas, March 2025
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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For more information about identifying birds, we suggest the following websites:
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology
I fell in love with these adorable birds on a recent trip to Costa Rica. Thank goodness for digital cameras! I would have used up rolls and rolls of film. 🥰
Thank you for the interruption! I haven’t been around here lately and it’s good to see you!
I wonder how many people have had a woodpecker peck on metal poles? Is it common? I didn’t think our local pole pecker would ever give up! He spent hours! Daily! I moved - not because of him! lol so idk what became of him.