ADVENTURES WITH FRED

Each month we'll highlight one of Fred's amazing bird photographs. Click lower right for more information.

Bird in Brief

Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus)

• Found from northwestern Oregon, California, American southwest and western Mexico, through the Central American highlands into northern Colombia Andes

• Prefers pine-oak woodlands where oak trees are plentiful, but also found in tropical hardwood forests with nearby oak trees

• Medium-sized, black and white clown-faced bird with a red crown, glossy black and white head, white eyes, white rump and wing patches, and usually at least one red or yellow-tipped feather on the throat

• Highly social and usually live year-round in social units, with tropical populations often moving together

• Monogamous mating in some populations and cooperative polygyny in others

• Nest cavities drilled into large dead or living tree limbs may contain granaries, and are lined with fresh wood chips; may be reused for several seasons

Source: animaldiversity.com

This acorn woodpecker was photographed in December 2022, at an elevation over 8,000 feet in the mountains south of Cartago, Costa Rica.