The Story
On June 23, 2017, I photographed this Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus) in Manizales, Caldas, 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. Manizales sits on the steep ridges of Colombia’s Central Cordillera, near the Nevado del Ruiz volcano, which rises to 5,321 meters.
I used a Canon EOS 70D and the EF400mm f/5.6L USM for this one, at 1/250 sec, f/7.1, ISO 400. IUCN lists the Acorn Woodpecker as Least Concern with an increasing population, and the city of Manizales owns and protects forest fragments such as the Ecoparque Los Yarumos inside its urban area.
©2018 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