Acorn Woodpeckers Can Store As Much As 50.000 Acorns in a Single Tree

In family groups that have more than one breeding female, all females lay their eggs into a single nest, which results in strange events. When a female acorn woodpecker finds any eggs in her nest, the family will start eating them before every breeding female starts to lay eggs at the same time. According to Bill Schutt, Professor of Biology at LIU Post and a research associate at the American Museum of Natural History, this is to ensure that not only the oldest eggs have a chance to survive. “Presumably this is because the oldest hatchling would be the most likely to survive. To eliminate this advantage, the birds will keep eating each other’s eggs until they both lay their eggs on the same day, a process that can take weeks.”

Once the younglings mature into adults, they will stick around with their family for a couple of years to help out with the newborns. Eventually, they will fly off to look for a new family. Usually, they take the place of an adult that recently died.