Bird of the Month: Acorn Woodpecker

acorn woodpecker

Acorn woodpeckers are described as having a clown face because of their red head patch and large eyes. They are gregarious and not especially shy around people, which makes them fun to watch and photograph. These birds are obsessive about gathering and storing acorns,  which they do by drilling numerous holes into a tree trunk to create a “granary tree.” We found this one drilling into an oak tree at Santee Lakes.