Nuts About Acorns

Tap into what makes these quirky, clownish woodpeckers tick.

When it comes to hoarding food, few birds compare to the acorn woodpecker. Unlike woodpeckers that tap their way into tree trunks to mow down insects, these western birds bore small, tidy holes into wood, where they store acorns (and sometimes other nuts) by the thousands.

In fact, just one family unit may create a winter stockpile of up to 50,000 acorns in a single tree, called a granary. One bird stands guard against any would-be thieves as the others focus on building their impressive cache.

To make sure their treasures stay put, the birds knock each acorn into a hole, using their beaks as makeshift mallets. If an acorn starts to loosen, one of the woodpeckers will move it to a better-fitting cavity.

Despite their name, these woodpeckers eat more than just acorns and other nuts. They also consume ants and flying insects that they snatch out of the air. Tree sap, fruit and even lizards are on the menu, too.

Acorn woodpeckers are highly social birds. They live together in groups of up to 12 or more, and they nest and raise their broods communally. The breeding females often keep their eggs together in a shared nest, which is always inside a tree cavity. Multiple members help incubate the eggs. Acorn woodpeckers don’t build their nests, though. Instead, they utilize fresh wood chips, which accumulate inside tree cavities thanks to their pecking, as nesting material.

Once the young are born, other family members work alongside the parents to rear and feed the young. It’s common for grown offspring from the previous year to assist their parents in raising the new brood.

Because they are masters at storing supplies for winter, acorn woodpeckers are resident birds, meaning they don’t typically migrate unless they run out of food. They can be seen year-round in areas with oak and pine-oak woodlands, including some suburban areas and urban parks.

You can attract these rowdy birds to your backyard if you live within range (western Oregon, California and the Southwest) and keep your suet and seed feeders well-stocked, but be careful what you wish for.

Although the antics of acorn woodpeckers are fascinating, these birds sometimes store their food in human-made structures, from telephone poles to the sides of buildings. Your best bet for seeing these quirky woodpeckers in person is to take a walk through the woods. If you find a tree riddled with holes and hear a waka-waka call, look up!