Acorn woodpeckers may be the squirrels of the birds. Have you seen a tree with acorns stuck in its trunk? If so, then you are seeing the work of an acorn woodpecker! They are best known for drilling into tree trunks to hoard their acorn stash to tide them over during winter. An acorn woodpecker can drill up to 50,000 acorns in a single tree, sometimes in a straight line up and down the trunk!
Nesting and raising the young is a communal group activity for the acorn woodpeckers. As many as 12 adults partake in helping to incubate eggs and raise the young in a single nest.
The acorn woodpecker’s habitat range will start to shift up north as temperatures rise due to climate change. Their habitat contains the kinds of food they like to eat (acorns!) and where they nest. Audubon projects that 37% of the acorn woodpecker’s habitat range will be lost with a 1.5 degree Celsius increase and 43% habitat range loss at 3.0 degree Celsius increase in temperatures.
Other climate change vulnerabilities that the acorn woodpecker faces are wildfires and heat waves. Wildfires burn their habitat and the more often it burns, the less likely their habitat will be able to grow back. Heat waves, especially during spring time, can be dangerous to young woodpeckers in their nests. If the baby acorn woodpeckers die early, the overall number of these birds will decrease and have a last impact on their future.
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