Acorn Woodpecker

Melanerpes formicivorus

Photo by Richard Fray

Description

==DESCRIPTION:The Male is Black with a red crown, bright yellow throat, and white and black spotted chest and belly. The crown and throat feathers stand out and look beautiful in the sunlight.The Female: Lacks the yellow throat and has a smaller red patch on the back of the head. 8-9" in length.

Identification

The acorn woodpecker lives in colonies and stores acorns in holes drilled by generations of woodpeckers.The Acorn Woodpeckers have the unique habit of pecking individual holes into both dead and live Pine and Oak trees and then placing acorns within the holes. The acorns, however, are only a reserve food source (i.e. for winter). The birds main diet consists of fruits and insects. Like all Woodpeckers, these birds use their tails to steady themselves when clinging to a tree. These birds are highly social and live in groups of twelve or more. In this group, only a few may mate, but all take responsibility for raising the babies and creating nests.

NESTSThey build their nests within tree holes. They lay 4-5 white eggs with an 11-12 day incubation period. Fledging occurs 30-32 days after hatching. The nests are built and the young are cared for by all members of the colony.

Colombian Acorn Woodpecker Subsps. flavigula

This woodpecker is a common bird in Colombia, my observations are in Western Andes, about 3� N , at 1650 meters over sea level, subtropical zone, where they also peck small holes on trees, (living trees, not dead) and put nothing inside, why?. In Colombia winter doesn't exist, food is available all around the year.

Originally posted by peresugranyes

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