header image

[Sign Up Now] to Receive Our FREE Daily SCVTV-SCVNews Digest by E-Mail

Inside
Weather


 
Calendar
Today in
S.C.V. History
March 28
1934 - Bouquet Canyon Reservoir, replacement for ill-fated St. Francis Dam & reservoir, begins to fill with water [story]
Bouquet Reservoir


Let's Go Outside | Commentary by Evelyne Vandersande
| Thursday, Apr 4, 2013

evelynevandersande_mugThis is the time of the year when you hear a lot of drumming in the trees. It’s mating time for the acorn woodpecker, and he uses this sound to attract a mate.

It is a common sound in springtime, but the drumming is also a display to mark territory. It consists of two to 20 evenly spaced taps, usually on dead branches, which provide good resonance. It can also be performed on telephone poles or even on your house, to the great dismay of the humans inside who are trying to sleep late. At other times of the year, the drumming is used to communicate with the group.

The acorn woodpecker is a medium-sized bird with bright plumage and a black back, white underparts, red head, and white surrounding the eye, so they are easy to recognize. They tend to spend a lot of time tending their granary, so they are also easy to observe because they stay for some time in one spot. Plus, you may see a collection of them, because they live in a group of up to 15 birds.

Photos courtesy of Placerita Canyon Nature Center Associates

Photos courtesy of Placerita Canyon Nature Center Associates

The granary is their food reserve; they drill holes with their bill so they can hide enough acorns to last through the winter. They use branches to create the granary, but any wood will do. They even drilled holes in a bulletin board at Walker Ranch and filled it up with acorns for a rainy – or hungry – day. They can hide up to 50,000 acorns in one granary, so the whole group has to be dedicated defending the place.

After the acorns have been stored for a while, they dry out and need to be moved to a smaller hole with a better fit, so the woodpeckers are constantly working and rearranging the granary.

They eat the acorns and also enjoy the worm that develops inside the acorn. They also catch flying insects, ants, beetles and lizards, and they eat fruit, lick sap and even eat eggs of their own species.

eve040413cImagine drumming full speed on a tree and digging holes in the bark to hide acorns. How is it they do not get headaches or even brain damage?

The impact of banging your head against a hard surface 20 times per second seems traumatic, but they are well equipped to do this. Their brain is small and is packed tightly inside the skull, so it does not move along with the movements of the head. The brain is oriented differently, so it maximizes the area of contact between the brain and the skull. In essence, the brain is packed in a very tight box so it gets a lot of support and does not get injured.

Carpenters wear safety goggles when they cut boards, and woodpeckers have something similar as a built-in accessory: a nictitating membrane that closes to protect their eye from wood chips, that they can see through to do their work.

Carpenters sometimes wear a face mask to avoid breathing dust. Acorn woodpeckers have another adaptation: their nostrils are slit-like, so not much can come through, plus they have special feathers to cover them even further.

Their beak continues to grow throughout their life, and because it is a tool that gets lots of use, it is very primordial. Earlier, I wrote they like to drink sap and grab little insects; they are well equipped to do so. They have protractile tongues they can project out of their beak that are sticky and covered with spiky hair at the tip. Again, that is another very useful and effective tool.

eve040413gTheir tail has stiff feathers that help them stay in place when they are working in the tree. To help even more, they have zygodactyl feet. That means they have four toes; the first and the fourth ones face backward, while the second and the third face forward. That helps to grab branches securely. All of these adaptations are important for a bird that can manage to walk vertically up (or down) a tree trunk.

Acorn woodpeckers are gregarious birds, but nowhere does it show more than in the way they mate. They live in a group that has one to seven breeding males and one to three breeding females.

It gets complicated, so read slowly – I am getting lost myself – not every bird will mate each year, but the female can mate with up to four males. All members of the group are close relatives except the co-breeding males. It is a sort of commune, and they seem to prevent interbreeding with this cooperative approach.

The eggs are laid in a cavity in the tree – a round hole that you can see on a trunk or large branch. All of the females lay their eggs in one single nest, but each female destroys the eggs that were in the nest before she lays her own eggs. Consequently, one third of the total number of eggs gets destroyed. The eggs get eaten, so there is no food lost (this is especially important for females laying eggs and needing the energy).

Once all of the females have laid their eggs, they leave the eggs alone, and the eggs are incubated by all members of the group. When the eggs hatch, the babies are also fed by all of the members. Young woodpeckers stay with their community to help feed the babies for a few years. The size of the group can be up to 15 birds.

eve040413aIf the community is large and the juveniles do not get a chance to mate, they will check out other colonies up to 10 miles away from home to be accepted and be able to mate in the new colony.

It is a complex and active community life that had been studied in depth because it is so unusual and interesting.

The acorn woodpecker is a beautiful bird, very vocal and with a busy lifestyle. It is one of the easiest birds to observe at Placerita; there is a large granary before the Walker’s cabin and a few sycamores at the beginning of the Canyon Trail where you can be sure to find them.

Come by now in the springtime to see how many woodpeckers you can spot.

Evelyne Vandersande has been a docent at Placerita Canyon Nature Center for 27 years. She lives in Newhall.

 

eve040413eeve040413deve040413b

 

Comment On This Story
COMMENT POLICY: We welcome comments from individuals and businesses. All comments are moderated. Comments are subject to rejection if they are vulgar, combative, or in poor taste.
REAL NAMES ONLY: All posters must use their real individual or business name. This applies equally to Twitter account holders who use a nickname.

0 Comments

You can be the first one to leave a comment.

Leave a Comment


Opinion Section Policy
All opinions and ideas are welcome. Factually inaccurate, libelous, defamatory, profane or hateful statements are not. Your words must be your own. All commentary is subject to editing for legibility. There is no length limit, but the shorter, the better the odds of people reading it. "Local" SCV-related topics are preferred. Send commentary to: LETTERS (at) SCVNEWS.COM. Author's full name, community name, phone number and e-mail address are required. Phone numbers and e-mail addresses are not published except at author's request. Acknowledgment of submission does not guarantee publication.
Read More From...
RECENT COMMENTARY
Wednesday, Mar 27, 2024
Remo, Inc. is is the world's leading manufacturer and developer of synthetic drumheads and shells. They’ve been in business for 60 years
Tuesday, Mar 26, 2024
Springtime in Santa Clarita brings not only vibrant blooms and opportunities to embrace the outdoors with warmer weather, but also an array of free, family-friendly events and this Saturday is no exception.
Thursday, Mar 21, 2024
Did you know that each year, Main Street in Old Town Newhall undergoes countless makeovers for different events, such as Light Up Main Street and the Fourth of July Parade?
Thursday, Mar 21, 2024
Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, whose Fifth District includes the Santa Clarita Valley, issued the following statement Thursday in response to an announcement by Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel of a proposal to change how calls to the 9-8-8 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline are routed.
Monday, Mar 18, 2024
Unlike our children who enjoy a week-long spring break, we adults no longer have that luxury.
Friday, Mar 15, 2024

Latest Additions to SCVNews.com
1934 - Bouquet Canyon Reservoir, replacement for ill-fated St. Francis Dam & reservoir, begins to fill with water [story]
Bouquet Reservoir
The California Department of Public Health launched the “Never a Bother” campaign, a youth suicide prevention public awareness and outreach campaign for youth, young adults, and their parents, caregivers, and allies.
California Launches New Youth Suicide Prevention Campaign
The Santa Clarita Master Chorale invites the community to "Let the Sunshine In," a delightful evening of food, wine and song at the annual Cabaret & Cabernet fundraising benefit.
April 20: Santa Clarita Master Chorale’s Cabaret, Cabernet Fundraiser
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health cautions residents who are planning to visit the below Los Angeles County beaches to avoid swimming, surfing, and playing in ocean waters:
March 27 Ocean Water Warning
As an integral ingredient necessary to help the Santa Clarita Valley to flourish, feedback from the business community is the secret sauce for achieving great things.
SCVEDEC Asks For the Business Community’s Opinion on Santa Clarita
Raise your heart rate while raising funds for the Santa Clarita Sister Cities Dollars-for-Desks campaign to provide school desks for students in Sariaya, Santa Clarita's Sister City in the Philippines.
April 13: Sister Cities Zumba-thon Fundraiser
Remo, Inc. is is the world's leading manufacturer and developer of synthetic drumheads and shells. They’ve been in business for 60 years
SCVEDC Company Spotlight: Drumming Up Big Business with Remo, Inc.
California State Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo (D-Chatsworth) and Assemblyman James Ramos (D-Highland) have introduced AB 3074 the "School or athletic team names: California Racial Mascots Act."
Schiavo Introduces Bill to Prohibit ‘Derogatory’ School Mascot Names
Los Angeles County’s Justice, Care and Opportunities Department  in collaboration with Local Initiatives Support Corporation Los Angeles is proud to announce the 2nd Annual Pitch Competition for the cohorts of JCOD's Incubation Academy.
March 28: JCOD Incubation Academy Helps Grassroots Non-Profits For the Second Year
Children’s Bureau is seeking foster families and now offers two virtual ways for individuals and/or couples to learn how to help children in foster care while reunifying with birth families or how to provide legal permanency by adoption.
April 18: Children’s Bureau Hosts Virtual Orientation
The Sunburst track was constructed in 1887 by the Southern Pacific Railroad and was a part of the main line running between San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Enjoy Spring With a Ride On The Sunburst Track
California State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond hosted a Personal Finance Summit today where he announced his support for Assembly Bill 2927 (McCarty), legislation that would require a personal finance education course for California high school graduation.
State Superintendent Announces Support for Personal Finance Graduation Requirement
1847 - Probable birth date of Pico Canyon oil driller Charles Alexander Mentry [story]
C.A. Mentry
The first Music Jam Session at The MAIN was held on Thursday, Feb. 22 and was a hit. Come out and join in for the next one on Thursday, March 28 7 p.m.-9 p.m.
March 28: The MAIN to Host Musicians’ Jam Session
Los Angeles County Inspector General Max Huntsman of the Office of Inspector General has issued a report entitled "Tenth Report Back on Implementing Body-Worn Cameras in Los Angeles County."
Office of Inspector General Issues Latest Report on LASD Body Cams
College of the Canyons women's tennis played to a convincing 7-2 conference win over Ventura College on Moica to strengthen its potential playoff resume.
Canyons Closes Out Ventura 7-2 in Final Home Match
Join the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce with the Latino Business Alliance at the Cinco de Mayo Networking Celebration on Tuesday, May 7.
May 7: Latino Business Alliance Cinco de Mayo Celebration
The Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control is hosting March Meowness promotion where all cat adoptions are just $15 from now until April 9.
Adopt a Cat During March Meowness at Castaic Animal Center
California State University, Northridge is partnering with the Fernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians and the Tataviam Land Conservancy to battle the impact of climate change in disadvantaged communities throughout the San Fernando Valley by establishing “urban forests.”
CSUN Partners with Fernandeño Tataviam Band to Build Urban Forests
Join the Santa Clarita Artists Association on Monday, April 15, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Barnes and Noble, 23630 Valencia Blvd., Valencia, CA 91355, for the SCAA monthly meeting and guest demonstrator.
April 15: SCAA Presents Debbie Abshear Watercolor Demo
Residents are invited to join members of the Santa Clarita City Council for a special ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the addition of Santa Clarita's 38th park, Skyline Ranch Park, 18355 Skyline Ranch Road, Santa Clarita, CA 91351, to the Santa Clarita parks system on Saturday, April 6, at 10 a.m.
April 6: Grand Opening for Santa Clarita’s 38th Park
The Santa Clarita Valley Senior Center is preparing for the annual fundraising event, Celebrity Waiter, with the theme “California Dreamin’” on Saturday, April 27 at Bella Vida, 27180 Golden Valley Road, Santa Clarita, CA 91351.
Table Sponsorships Still Available for Celebrity Waiter Dinner
Springtime in Santa Clarita brings not only vibrant blooms and opportunities to embrace the outdoors with warmer weather, but also an array of free, family-friendly events and this Saturday is no exception.
Ken Striplin | A Fun, Festive, Egg-Filled Day
SCVNews.com