To the Woman Who Taught Me About the Acorn Woodpeckers

I had never noticed them before

I had walked this path near weekly for years, but I had never noticed the woodpeckers.

There was a large group of them cackling wildly above in the old oaks.

The older woman with the camera noticed my interest.

I learned from her that the acorn woodpeckers take the acorns from the oak trees and because the trunks are too hard for them to store the acorns there, they fly over to the telephone poles because the wood is softer. There, they drill holes and stuff the acorns point size in, like screws. She showed me how their lines of storage are perfectly straight.

She said that where she is from in Oregon, the woodpeckers store them for winter. She wasn’t sure why they would do that here in California if it was instinct or purposeful.

She invited me to press my ear against the pole so I could hear the clicking and the pounding of their beaks against the softer wood.

A few weeks later, I walked the same path with my friend. I showed her the birds and we touched the lines on the pole. We wondered together.

Thank you to the woman who taught me about the acorn woodpeckers.

From ABC Birds: Why do Acorn Woodpeckers take such drastic measures to store food? This caching is actually an effective strategy for surviving the winter, allowing the birds to skip the perils of migration and stay on the same territory year-round.

E. Katherine Kottaras holds an M.A. in English and an M.S. in Kinesiology with a focus on Integrative Wellness, and she is a contemplative writer and holistic teacher, having worked at the middle, high school, and community college levels for over two decades. She is a yoga teacher, personal trainer, and health coach while also living with invisible illnesses and neurodivergence, and as such, she is passionate about mindfulness, bodily self-determination, and health equity. As the queer daughter of an immigrant, Katherine believes that holistic and inclusive approaches to expression, healing, and growth should be accessible to all.

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