Guadelupe Oak Grove Park, San Jose, California [taken August 2007]
Acorn Woodpecker colonies gather and store acorns in granary trees. Each of the thousands of acorn they collect has to be fit into the proper-sized hole for the long winter. As the acorns dry, the woodpeckers move the shrinking acorns to smaller holes to keep them from falling out. Acorn Woodpeckers use a hard surface, such as the top of a tree limb or a wooden light post as an anvil to crack open the dry acorns and eat them at times when insects are not readily available. I love the clown-like facial coloring of the Acorn Woodpeckers, especially the round black patch surrounding the bill. In this photo, a male sits a the top of the tree while the female (identified by the black patch on the crown of her head) lands on the same tree, carrying an acorn in her bill.
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