Hiking around Lake Lagunitas the other day, I heard a big commotion on one of the trees. Looking up I saw about twenty birds flopping around in, what seemed to be, some kind of dispute. By the time I got around to taking a picture, only a few were left. From the ground I couldn't identify the birds, though I noticed, as they flew away, that their wings appeared black and white on the underside. When I got my picture on the computer screen I realized, that what I had seen, were Acorn Woodpeckers. I had always believed that woodpeckers were solitary birds. But, looking in my 'Sibley Guide to Bird Life & Behavior', I found that "The Acorn Woodpecker is a communal, cooperative breeder, with groups of birds filling, using, and defending granaries. The granaries can be quite substantial. One study reported Acorn Woodpeckers storing more than 60,000 acorns in a single granary". I live and learn!
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