Gia and Bob discuss one amazing woodpecker. If you live or travel to the west make sure you check this woodpecker out. This episode is part of our Keystone Species series. Thanks to Christina Zorn for the great research!
Related woodpecker episodes: Wow it’s a Pileated Woodpecker, Downy Woodpeckers Support Their Mates, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers Slurp Sap
Keystone Species series: All About Alligators, Firefighting Beavers
Acorn Woodpecker 
Granary Tree
Our sources for this episode include:
Thanks for this Acorn Woodpecker episode. I’m in the East so I’ve never seen one. Now I have an excuse to go out West again and look for some granary trees full of acorns. So cool. I voted for Wolves – so I’m super excited for the next episode. I have been to Yellowstone and think I saw a wolf in the woods above Old Faithful.
Glad you voted for wolves but also liked Acorn Woodpeckers. Not many people have seen a wolf at Yellowstone. I count myself lucky to have seen one as well.
Hi Bob and Gia,
Great podcast! I will be looking for acorn
woodpeckers on my next visit to the Huntington Library and Gardens.
Special thanks to Gia for introducing me to this podcast.
Glad Gia told you about the podcast! I really enjoy working with her and I hope to get out west to see the Acorn Woodpeckers again.
Having listened to this fun and interesting podcast last week, I was able to immediately narrow down the culprit in a news article that I read today. The owner of a house in Glen Ellen CA called a pest control company to investigate “an insect problem” at his home. After cutting a 4-by-4 inch hole in the drywall of an upstairs bedroom wall, the technician (expecting to find a dead animal), was met by thousands (yes thousands!) of acorns spilling from the wall. Additional holes were made leading to more acorns rushing out of the holes. A total of 8 garbage bags (roughly 700 pounds) of acorns was collected and removed. Inspection on the exterior of the house revealed woodpeckers (we know which kind!) and acorns scattered about. The chimney stack revealed hundreds of holes, some with acorns still in them. Much to the dismay of the woodpeckers, the chimney was then repaired and wood screens were applied to the wooden exterior surfaces of the house.
Thanks for sharing this great news article!