Acorn Woodpeckers Bring Their Juveniles to the Woodpecker Feeder

Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus) Male photos by Larry Jordan

Saturday I had some time to just relax and watch the clown-faced member of the woodpecker family, the Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus), as the adults brought their juveniles to the feeder (click on photos for full sized images).

It is fitting that they sport the clown face too because they really put on a show chasing each other around through the trees and around the woodpecker feeder.

This first video begins with a juvenile male at the feeder as he goes about eating some smaller seeds and discarding others as he searches for the larger nuts in the mix, followed by what appears to be an adult male and then an adult female who goes through some contortions to get what she wants.

This is a close up of the male Acorn Woodpecker showing the light colored iris and bright red crown of the adult bird.  This particular male is one of the few having a small red spot below his throat on his breast.

The female has a broad black stripe separating her bright red crown from her white forehead.

Here is a close up of the contortion maneuver she used to extract her treasure from the feeder.

The difference in magnification from the first video to this second video and the photos is the difference between my 400mm lens and the digiscope setup.

This video includes a close up of the juvenile male and you can also hear the “laughing” call of the Acorn Woodpecker near the beginning.

I hope you enjoyed watching them as much as I did!

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