Acorn Woodpecker
Melanerpes formicivorus
About This Species
Acorn Woodpeckers live in noisy, cooperative family groups and are best known for drilling thousands of small holes into a single "granary" tree or utility pole, each hole packed with a single acorn for storage. Look and listen for them in oak woodlands of the western United States and Mexico, where their loud, waka-waka calls and clown-like face pattern make them conspicuous year-round. Autumn is a particularly good time to watch, when groups are actively harvesting and hammering in acorns for winter storage.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- Granary trees can be watched from a modest distance, perhaps ten metres or so, without disrupting the group's activity, since they are highly habituated to human presence in many parks and neighbourhoods.
- Wild woodpeckers and their nest cavities are protected under migratory bird law in the United States and equivalent statutes in Mexico, so active nest holes should not be disturbed or exposed.
- Avoid removing or damaging granary trees, which represent years of accumulated group effort and are not easily replaced.
LCAvesPiciformesPicidae
Seasonal Activity
1,763,632 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Piciformes
- Family
- Picidae
Photo
Wikimedia Commons / Wikimedia Commons
CC-BY-SA-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.