Woodpecker stash
Dec 11, 2020 10:17:16 #
I had never heard of this. Amazing nature.
Fern Zalin in Santa Clarita Valley, California, captured this image on December 5 and wrote: "Acorn woodpeckers have made this huge old Valley Oak into a granary tree, stashing thousands and thousands of acorns as high as I could see." Acorn woodpeckers can be found in the North American West, and in Mexico and Central America. They harvest acorns directly from oak trees, then store the nuts in individually drilled holes in one or more trees, known as "granaries." A single tree may be carrying 50,000 stored nuts!
Fern Zalin in Santa Clarita Valley, California, captured this image on December 5 and wrote: "Acorn woodpeckers have made this huge old Valley Oak into a granary tree, stashing thousands and thousands of acorns as high as I could see." Acorn woodpeckers can be found in the North American West, and in Mexico and Central America. They harvest acorns directly from oak trees, then store the nuts in individually drilled holes in one or more trees, known as "granaries." A single tree may be carrying 50,000 stored nuts!
Dec 11, 2020 10:50:43 #
Dec 11, 2020 10:51:39 #
fjdarling
Loc: Mesa, Arizona, USA
A woodpecker did the same thing to a palm tree trunk just outside my home office window. The food was really small, the same size as popcorn kernels and he/she just used the grooves already in the bark to store them. That was about 2 years ago and they haven't been back since then.
Dec 11, 2020 12:43:18 #
samantha90 wrote:
I had never heard of this. Amazing nature. br Fern... (show quote)
Amazing what animals and birds do to insure their survival. I wondered why they were called "Acorn Woodpeckers". Thanks for this great information.
Dec 11, 2020 16:07:39 #
Fascinating. I wouldn’t have thought acorns are part of a woodpeckers diet. Thanks for sharing the story.
Dec 11, 2020 17:48:46 #
Dec 11, 2020 20:54:15 #
Blue Jays do a similar thing with sunflower seeds. I always wondered how they ate so many seeds so fast without opening the shells. Then a watched one fly into a nearby tree a stuff the seeds into cracks and crevices in the bark. After seeing it I did some reading to confirm that what I had seen was normal.
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Dec 12, 2020 07:16:28 #
samantha90 wrote:
I had never heard of this. Amazing nature. br Fern... (show quote)
Wow, I learn something every day on UHH.
Not always about photography, but I do learn something and mostly positive or practicable things.
Smile,
JimmyT Sends
Dec 12, 2020 08:24:47 #
samantha90 wrote:
I had never heard of this. Amazing nature. br Fern... (show quote)
Wow. I assumed they were digging for insects, didn't realize they were storing nuts. Very interesting.
Dec 12, 2020 09:00:59 #
Dec 12, 2020 10:00:20 #
Dec 12, 2020 10:11:58 #
buckbrush
Loc: Texas then Southwest Oregon
samantha90 wrote:
I had never heard of this. Amazing nature. br Fern... (show quote)
Wonderful photo Samantha!
Unfortunately, woodpeckers will also destroy buildings by drilling into the wood and depositing acorns into those holes. Our barn has about 15 holes drilled by Woodpeckers (some as large as 5" in diameter) and now we are getting prices to cover the barn with metal siding which will cost us around 11K.
I have vacuumed up at least a 5 gallon bucket of acorns from the floor of the barn every year for the last 5-10 years and all my attempts to scare them away with owls, flags, etc. have not discourages them in the least.
I sure wish I could teach them how to determine the difference between a barn and a tree!
Dec 12, 2020 10:48:02 #
I put out unshelled peanuts (unsalted, of course) for the Scrub Jays. I have found the peanuts buried in various places all over the yard. I wonder if the Jays know where they hide the peanuts.
Dec 12, 2020 11:12:39 #
fjdarling wrote:
A woodpecker did the same thing to a palm tree trunk just outside my home office window. The food was really small, the same size as popcorn kernels and he/she just used the grooves already in the bark to store them. That was about 2 years ago and they haven't been back since then.
This week I got a chance to watch two woodpeckers try to protect their stash that they were putting in a palm tree.
Nature is harsh!
They did a good job running off the squirrel that was after their food but unfortunately all the activity got the attention of a few crows.
I couldn't stay to see the outcome but crows are tenacious so the woodpeckers have their work cutout for them.
Dec 12, 2020 11:47:41 #
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