The Story
On June 20, 2017, I photographed this Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus) at the Otún Quimbaya Fauna and Flora Sanctuary near Pereira, Risaralda, Colombia. Many populations store acorns in granaries, trees or wooden structures drilled with hundreds to thousands of holes. Its call sounds almost like laughter. It is a cooperative breeder, living and nesting in family groups of up to 15 birds. The sanctuary lies between 1,750 and 2,276 meters above sea level, and about 90 percent of it is natural forest.
I used a Canon EOS 70D and the EF400mm f/5.6L USM for this one, at 1/500 sec, f/6.3, ISO 1000. IUCN lists the Acorn Woodpecker as Least Concern with an increasing population, and the Otún Quimbaya sanctuary, protected by Colombia’s national parks service since 1996, shelters 307 bird species.
©2020 Adam Rainoff Photographer
The bird
The Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus) belongs to the family Picidae (Woodpeckers) in the eBird/Clements taxonomy.
Source: eBird.org (opens in a new tab)
Conservation
Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (assessment published 2024), with the population trend listed as increasing. Source: IUCN Red List