Acorn Woodpecker | Image: pixabay.com. Female is similar except for a black patch between the white forehead and red crown. The acorn woodpecker displays some of the most interesting and complex feeding and social behavior among birds. The Acorn Woodpecker is a permanent resident throughout the Americas, found from southern Washington state, south through California, and east to Colorado, New Mexico, and western Texas. In fact, this medium-sized woodpecker is so compulsive about stashing its nuts that it makes the eastern gray squirrel look like a slacker in comparison! That’s right. Yellow-tipped throat feathers may be present. If you want to catch an acorn woodpecker, you’ll probably have to climb a tree at night while the woodpeckers are roosting in tree cavities. The breast is white with black streaking; belly and rump are white. The acorn woodpecker is a bird of the American southwest that has a very squirrel-like habit of storing acorns. These interesting woodpecker facts can surprise even experienced birders! Acorn Woodpecker: Medium-sized, clown-faced woodpecker. The Acorn Woodpecker will use human-made structures to store acorns, drilling holes in fence posts, utility poles, buildings, and even automobile radiators. If you’re unlucky, there could be a gopher snake in there. Let’s take a look at the fascinating life history of these colorful, charismatic birds. Acorn WoodpeckerDescription The Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus) is a small to medium sized woodpecker, averaging about 9 inches (23 cm) in length. No woodpeckers, however, are found anywhere in Australia, Madagascar, New Zealand, or Antarctica. The male has a red crown, white forehead and glossy black face and body. Seven Acorn Woodpecker subspecies are recognized, … Wings are black with white patches. A lot of its behavior may even seem completely at odds with what you know about “typical” woodpecker behavior. Unlike other types of woodpeckers, Acorn Woodpeckers will live in groups of 10-16 other birds. Woodpecker Trivia . The adults have black heads, back wings and tails, white chest and facial markings and large white eyes. You’ll definitely have to shove your arm into that cavity without being able to look inside. There are more than 180 species of woodpeckers worldwide, and they are adapted to a wide range of habitats, including forests, deserts, jungles, and even urban settings. Populations also occur in oak forests in Mexican mountain ranges, south through Central American highlands, to the northern Andes of Colombia. Woodpeckers put 220 kg (485 lb) of acorns into a wooden water tank in Arizona. Occasionally the woodpecker will put acorns into places where it cannot get them out. Most of the time woodpeckers are solitary birds, but the Acorn Woodpecker has a very intricate social and family structure with other woodpeckers. The adult male has a red cap starting at the forehead; females have a black area or stripe between the forehead and the cap. Eyes are white.