Appearance: Acorn woodpeckers are large birds about 9″ long. Their bold colors consist of red, white, and black on the head and black wings with white wing patches. A red crown is surrounded by a white forehead. The female looks the same except with a red crown with a black band in front instead of all red.
Diet: Insects (especially ants) and nuts (especially acorns). Acorn woodpeckers are known for constructing elaborate storage “granaries” to maintain a supply of acorns mainly for winter consumption.
Feeder food: Suet and peanuts.
Habitat: Woodlands with oak trees as well as mixed oak and conifers. Large trees are used as “granaries” to store the incredible amount of acorns that groups of Acorn woodpeckers collected.
Nesting: Acorn woodpeckers are cavity nesters. They have 3-8 eggs/brood and incubate for about 11 days.
Migration: Acorn woodpeckers do not migrate. They typically remain in their year-round range all seasons of the year. Being a rather sedentary species, they prefer to remain within their year-round range, however, after the breeding season if food supplies diminish they will wander to the outer edges of their range (or just outside it) until they find a supply of acorns. The distance of this movement varies from one season to the next and is dependent on the food supply.
Year-round range: Along the pacific coasts of Oregon and California, central Arizona & New Mexico as well as southwestern Texas and inland Mexico.
Range Map
