Woodpeckers

Woodpeckers seem to have a personality. Take the Acorn Woodpecker (first photo), found mostly in the mountain canyons is both "clownish" looking and acting. As the name implies they rely heavily on acorns for food source, although they will also eat insects. They collect and then store their acorns in holes of trees (or telephone poles). The Gila Woodpeckers (second photo) are mainly responsible for all the holes in saguaro cacti. The holes are two or three inches in diameter and then go down inside the saguaro about one foot. Once the hole is "drilled", the saguaro secretes a substance which protects itself from drying out. After the saguaro dies, the "boot" can be collected as it separates from the rest of the saguaro. At our place Gila Woodpeckers are abundant. They are constantly "squawking" at anyone who comes near them or "disturbs" their "drilling" or drinking from the hummingbird feeders. The Gilded Flicker (third photo) is a migrant which we see mainly in the spring and early summer. He is a little larger then the Gila and quite colorful.