WHITE-HEADED AND ACORN WOODPECKERS

      Presumably having a common ancestor, all woodpecker species have similar characteristics, including stiff tail feathers that prop them upright on vertical tree trunks, two toes in front of each foot and two in back that allow them to cling to tree bark and dead wood, and prop themselves upright at the same time, and heavy, sharp beaks that chip into bark and wood after invertebrates, and to carve out hollow to raise young in.  And they have attractive feather patterns.  

     But some kinds of woodpeckers have other food sources, including white-headed woodpeckers and acorn woodpeckers that hail from the American west.  Other food sources decreases competition for food among the adaptable, worldwide woodpecker family of birds.  White-headed and acorn woodpeckers diverged from other woodpecker species by ingesting different kinds of "nuts" from trees.

     White-headed woodpeckers have black body feathers and white heads.  Adult males each have a red stripe on the back of his head.  This species lives and nests in old growth ponderosa pine and sugar pine woods where they feed heavily on large pine seeds, as well as invertebrates.  They also wedge those seeds tight into tree bark crevices for storage and winter use.

     Acorn woodpeckers live commonly in oak woods.  Each family group of them store hundreds of acorns in holes they chip into a large, dead, but still-standing oak tree called a granary tree.  The family consumes those acorns in winter, but mostly eats a variety of invertebrates they chip out of dead wood and from under bark during the warmer months.

     The family chases would-be thieves from their stock of acorns, including jays, crows, squirrels and other lurking critters.  

     Acorn woodpeckers are black on top and white below, with dark stripes.  They have cream-colored feathers on their faces and each has a ed cap.  

     Acorn woodpeckers' living in family groups is an unusual social behavior for the woodpecker family.  Furthermore, multiple males and females mate promiscuously, and the mated females of the group lay their eggs in one tree cavity chipped out for a nursery.  All acorn woodpeckers, including juveniles from previous years, take turns incubating the eggs, and feeding invertebrates to the newly hatched young.

     White-headed and acorn woodpeckers are adaptable, handsome and intriguing.  And they have unusual food choices for woodpeckers.  But each kind is living successfully in its own habitat where we humans can enjoy them, as we can enjoy nature almost anywhere.