THIS ACORN WOODPECKER lives in a group of about twelve in San Diego's Tecolote Canyon. You almost never see just one of them; and their clownish wake-up, wake-up call makes them easy to recognize even before you see them. The birds obsessively make holes in both dead and live pine and oak trees and store a reserve supply of acorns in them although their main diet consists of fruits and insects. Like all woodpeckers, these birds use their tails to steady themselves when clinging to a tree.

Acorn woodpeckers are highly social and live in groups of twelve or more. The bird in these photographs lives in a group in Tecolote Canyon. I read that only a few in the group may mate, but all take responsibility for raising the babies and creating nests.