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Acorn WoodPecker

Melanerpes formicivorus

Photo by HemaShah
Published on Project Noah
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36.7783, -119.418

Field Notes

Description:

The clown-faced Acorn Woodpecker is a common bird of western oak forests. It lives in extended family groups, and all members of the group spend hours and hours storing thousands of acorns in carefully tended holes in trees and telephone poles.

Notes:

This is my 1000th spotting!

Reference Links:

Acorn Woodpecker, Identification, All About Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (14)
HemaShah
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/Page.aspx?pid=2293#top
HemaShah
Quite a cheeky woodpecker!! Thanks for recommending the book. Will surely check it out the next time i go to the Library.
Darwin26
i just checked out a book at the library in Billings, MT called Owls and Woodpeckers... spotting of mine a last week of a Great Horned Owl was tripped off by a Downey Woodpecker (possibly Hairy) it certainly didn't realize a massive almost 3 ft tall Great Horned was perched and sleeping where it was gonna start pecking! the book looks very interesting. by Paul Bannick ~ with a CD covering calls and drumming in the back! My best woodpecker spotting was a Black-backed Woodpecker, no pic :(
LisaRichlinDavis
Emma- go to allaboutbirds.org and search "woodpecker" you will see a whole bunch of types!
HemaShah
@Alice ,@ Bill What are the other types of wood peckers besides,Acorn,Hairy and Downey? I am interested in getting pictures of Gila and Pileated wood peckers .I have to read about Wood Peckers. My interest in them has revived,
HemaShah
@Bill,in Contra Costa county in Sf the Acorn wood peckers are the least threatened. They are labeled as pests here. In fact ,people in Rosmoor and Walnut Creek have long since been at war with this Wood pecker. Controversy over killing acorn woodpeckers in Rossmoor has come to a disappointing conclusion.
HemaShah
@ Bill, thanks for the ID. All the 3 woodpeckers,Hairy ,Downy and acorn have basically 3 colors in them, Red , White and Black. Hairy and Downy are smaller in size and have patterns in the feather. The acorn woodpecker is a little penguin like.
BillCarpenter
Yep they are distinctive. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn_Woodpecker
BillCarpenter
Dependent on Oak trees. Threatened by habitat loss and degradation.

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Birds of the World
Mission
2011 Best Wildlife Photo

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Photographed
PublishedSeptember 6, 2011

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