Tag Archives: Acorn Woodpecker

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Paul Brewer was the lucky photographer who witnessed the event. Paul wrote, "This photo of the baby alone shows it putting its foot out of the nest hole. It flew less than one minute later. It was wonderful to observe, but no warning except the foot out of the hole, which I did not see until processing the photos.”

Earlier the parents were seen feeding their offspring. In Paul's photo the father Acorn Woodpecker is feeding his chick, while the mother looks on.

Rick and I get to watch Acorn Woodpeckers who come to a feeder we have. They are great fun to observe.

Thanks to Paul for allowing me to share his photos with you here. Paul has a showing at the Dolphin Gallery in Gualala. The opening is Friday, July 6th at 5 pm. His nature photos will be there in the weeks ahead.

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Harm Wilkinson was sure surprised to see this Acorn Woodpecker imitating a hummingbird at his sugar-water feeder.

Harm said the woodpecker drained the hummingbird feeder.

Here's a close-up of a male Acorn Woodpecker on the left (notice the red on his head goes all the way to the white on his face) and a female (she has black between the white on her face and the red on top of her head) at a seed feeder. This photo was taken by Jim Garlock.

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Thanks to Harm and Jim for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

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Finding a bird’s nest is a lucky sighting. Paul Brewer wrote, “Brenda and Erik Draaijer located an Acorn woodpecker nest and were kind enough to point it out to me so I could photograph it. The baby sure is cute, and I owe this opportunity to two wonderful friends.”

Male Acorn woodpecker feeds its offspring by Paul Brewer

Sharing a sighting doubles the excitement, and in this case reaps two beautiful photos by Paul of the male Acorn woodpecker feeding its offspring.

Open wide - an Acorn woodpecker chick being fed by Paul BrewerThanks to Paul for allowing me to share his photos with you here. To see much more of Paul's nature photography, here is his website: http://www.capturingnatureswonders.com/

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One of my favorite birds is the clown-faced Acorn Woodpecker. They often appear at our birdfeeder. Clay Yale and Siegfried Matull recently photographed two Acorn Woodpeckers. Both photos show a female. First here is Siegfried's photo.

Female Acorn Woodpecker by Siegfried Matull

And next is Clay's photo.

Female Acorn Woodpecker by Clay Yale

To show you the difference between a male and female Acorn Woodpecker, here is a photo taken by Jim Garlock. The female is on the right and the male is on the left. Note that the red on top of the male's head is bigger and there is no black between his white and red feathers on his face.

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The sound of Acorns is quite distinctive. Some describe it as "waka waka." To hear for yourself, here's a link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/acorn_woodpecker/sounds

Thanks to Siegfried, Clay and Jim for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

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I'll let Robert tell about his photo. He wrote, "Just off our deck is a Douglas-fir with lots of tips. This guy appeared the other day, flying in with that classic woodpecker dip and dive flight pattern. We also have a Bishop Pine nearby that woodpeckers like to dig for bugs, and a couple of Tan-bark oaks not too far away where he can find acorns, so I think he was looking around to see where to go next to feed.

"I loved his bright red head and white body markings. Acorn Woodpeckers are very striking to my eye, with a large and really powerful beak."

I love their call. It is very distinctive and sounds like no other bird. To hear it for yourself, here's the link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/acorn_woodpecker/sounds

I thank Robert for his photo and his story.