Acorn Woodpecker has to be one of the most common bird species at Madera Canyon and we certainly enjoyed watching them during our visit earlier this month. They are so neat looking and they definitely put on a show. I find the Latin name of this species to be interesting; as I understand it means ant eating, making this the ant-eating woodpecker. They obviously are famous for their acorn eating but what’s up with the ant eating name? As it turns out these woodpeckers actually prefer to eat ants to acorns but since ants might not be available all the time the acorns are the backup food source.

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Melanerpes formicivorus