Red-tailed
Hawk and Acorn Woodpecker
Thomas Quinn,
1982
Watercolor
(27" x 38.5")
Private Collection
While Red-tailed
Hawks rely on rodents for more than 85 percent
of their diet, they supplement it with birds,
reptiles and insects. And, while Acorn
Woodpeckers actively defend acorn caches from
raiding squirrels, jays, titmice, etc., (which
also store acorns) they are at risk to
predation.
Acorn Woodpecker
reproduction is highly dependent on the size of
the acorn crop. Recent studies indicate that
annual fluctuations in woodpecker numbers relate
to the diversity of oaks in an area rather than
to the number of acorn-producing trees. Crop
failure of one species in a given year is
supplemented by alternative sources.
Stanford has
more than 6700 oaks on the core campus alone.
Both native and exotic species are found here
including Coast Live Oak (Quercus
agrifolia), Valley Oak (Q. lobata),
Red Oak (Q. rubra), Blue Oak
(Q. douglasii), Pin Oak (Q.
palustris), Scarlet Oak (Q. coccinea), Holly
Oak (Q. ilex), Kellogg Oak (q. kelloggii), Cork
Oak (Q. suber), and Southern Live Oak (Q.
virginiana). Not surprisingly, the campus is
home to a sizable woodpecker population and
woodland-loving red-tails.
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