Another Acorn Woodpecker Brood!

The Acorn Woodpeckers are raising another baby in the stalk of an Agave Salmiana.  I've been watching birds fly back and forth for a couple of weeks, and today I finally got a good look at the baby.

Acorn Woodpecker

Acorn Woodpecker

Acorn Woodpecker - The Chick Has left The Nest!

 Last night or sometime this morning before 8:00 AM, the Acorn Woodpecker chick left the nest.  I was hoping to catch it on video, but I wasn't so lucky.  A few adult birds have been checking out the nest and hopefully they are planning to use it again.

Acorn Woodpecker Chick - To Leave, or Not To Leave?

 So is this the moment the Acorn Woodpecker chick leaves the nest?

Not yet, but this is the furthest I've seen it out of the nest.

I'm Hungry!

 The baby Acorn Woodpecker is hungry!

Acorn Woodpeckers

Acorn Woodpeckers

Acorn Woodpecker Chick, Feed Me!

 The more I watch the Acorn Woodpecker nest, the more I think there is only one chick.

Acorn Woodpecker chick looking out it's nest

Acorn Woodpecker chick looking out it's nest

Lunch for the Acorn Woodpecker chick

Lunch for the Acorn Woodpecker chick

Acorn Woodpecker

Acorn Woodpeckers - Starting To See Babies

 I'm not sure how many baby woodpeckers are in the nest but you can see at least one in this video.

Baby Acorn Woodpeckers are getting bigger!

 The adult Acorn Woodpeckers can now feed the baby birds from outside the nest.

Acorn Woodpeckers - Family Feeding and Housekeeping!

 I have another video of some Acorn Woodpeckers with some interesting behaviors.  At the 0:17 mark, there are three adults bringing food to the nest.  They live in family groups of up to a dozen or more individuals, and they cooperate in raising young. I also noticed that they sometimes fly out of the nest with something white in their beaks.  You can see this at 1:03 and 1:12.  When an acorn woodpecker chick eats food delivered by one of its parents, it conveniently produces a “fecal sac” a few seconds later. The adult bird just has to wait a few seconds for the sac to emerge and then, out of the nest it goes.  Good housekeeping!

Acorn Woodpecker, Going and Coming Back

 Here is a short video of an Acorn Woodpecker going away and coming back to the nest.

Acorn Woodpeckers and Their Nest

 A pair of Acorn Woodpeckers have made a nest in the dead bloom stalk of the Agave Salmiana.  Today I watched two birds fly up to the stalk and go into the nest.

Acorn Woodpecker in an Agave Salmiana

An Acorn Woodpecker at a Bird Feeder

Well I've never seen this before.  It's an Acorn Woodpecker eating at one of the bird feeders.  He's a bit big for this feeder, but he manages to twist himself around to get to the seed.  It's a male because there is no black patch between the white forehead and red crown.  And it's a juvenile because it's eyes are black and adults have white eyes.

Acorn Woodpecker

Acorn Woodpecker

Acorn Woodpecker

Acorn Woodpecker

An Acorn Woodpecker

This afternoon an Acorn Woodpecker was chattering away in the eucalyptus tree.

Acorn Woodpecker

Acorn Woodpecker

Acorn Woodpecker

Acorn Woodpeckers

The Acorn Woodpeckers have started coming around again.  We recently had the eucalyptus trees trimmed so there are more exposed branches and possibly some insects to eat, but there certainly aren't any acorns.

Acorn Woodpecker

Acorn Woodpecker

Acorn Woodpecker

Acorn Woodpecker

Acorn Woodpecker