There are numerous animals that stock up on food for the winter, but none gets into hoarding on such a grand scale as the Acorn Woodpecker. A typical tree contains hundreds — even thousands — of acorns. In fact, the largest on record contained 50,000 of them. On many of those trees every square inch of the trunk and limbs may be covered with acorn-filled holes, the cumulative result of multiple generations of Acorn Woodpeckers drilling. With their sharp, powerful beaks, Acorn Woodpeckers excavate custom holes into trees that are the perfect size to hold acorns. The same tree — called a “granary” — is reused over generations to store the winter food supply. So, if you happen to see your tree looking like the one above, don’t freak out thinking it’s some sort of disease. It’s just your friendly Acorn Woodpeckers making sure they have enough food to get them through the winter.
