Acorn Woodpecker

• GeneralIt stores thousands of acorns in holes drilled into a single granary tree.
• It stores acorns in "granary trees": the group drills thousands of holes in a single trunk and wedges an acorn into each one. Larders with tens of thousands of holes have been counted.
• It lives in groups of three to twelve birds that jointly defend the territory, the larder, the nesting areas and the feeding areas.
• In Colombia it has been observed also drinking the sap that seeps from the holes of its own larder, a resource that draws hummingbirds in as well.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bird)

Habitat & environment

Oak and holm oak woods in the mountains

Birth weight

Altricial: born blind, naked or with sparse down and entirely dependent

Size at birth

Altricial: born blind, naked or with sparse down and entirely dependent

Sexual maturity

22.8 months

Gestation / incubation

14 days

Litter / clutch size

It nests in trees or dead branches, in large cavities excavated by the pair. Breeding is cooperative: several adults take part, from monogamous pairs to groups of seven males and three females with more than ten non-breeding helpers

Sources consulted: IUCN Red List; CONANP (ficha de especie, Iztaccíhuatl-Popocatépetl); CONABIO/EncicloVida; Biodiversidad Farallones del Citará; Arboretum de la Universidad Francisco Marroquín; National Park Service (NPSpecies); Swainson 1827

Best time: All year round: it is a permanent resident, unless the acorn crop fails