If you're a birder, you'll know what a life list is. It's basically a list of all the bird species one has observed and positively ID'd in one's lifetime. This blog is a record of my "critter" life list (mostly of birds), including photos I've taken over the years, some of the actual lifer if I was lucky enough to get the shot. Don't expect National Geographic quality stuff here, just the work of an amateur photog who loves to trudge out into nature.

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus)


8/29/10 Waterline Road, Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve, SW Riverside County, CA
6/15/02 Chilao Visitor Center, Angeles National Forest, Los Angeles County, CA
9/3/06 Perched on the Engelmann Oak on the hill over the orchard on our property 
La Cresta, Murrieta, SW Riverside County

LIFE LIST NOTES:

COMMON NAME: Acorn Woodpecker

SPECIES: Melanerpes formicivorus

 FAMILY: Picidae (Woodpeckers)

LIFE LIST DATE: 3/7/1998

LOCATION: At adobes, Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve, SW Riverside County, CA

From Stokes Field Guide to Birds-Western Region & Kaufman Focus Guide-Birds of North America:

HABITAT/BEHAVIOR: A clown-faced, noisy bird of western oak woods. Lives in groups all year; colonies harvest acorns in fall, spring them in holes riddled in dead wood, feeding on them during winter and spring. Seldom wanders away from colony sites. 

 IDENTIFYING MARKS: 8"; clear black back; red on crown; white eye surrounded by black; white forehead and cheek; and yellowish throat. Male: red crown touched white forehead. Female: red on back half of crown separated from white forehead by black. 

VOICE: Repeated chacup chacup chacup.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)