Acorn Woodpecker Has Herself a Snack

Acorn woodpeckers make pleasant photo subjects. For bird photography, you generally want to focus on the bird's eye. Many birds have dark pupils and irises, so unless the lighting is just right, it can be a challenge to catch their eye colors in a picture. As you can see, acorn woodpeckers have black-and-white eyes reminiscent of cartoon characters; these are much more forgiving to the photographer, and everyone finds them cute.

Here, our subject turns her head to the side, obligingly giving us a view of her species' distinctive red crown/hat/yarmulke. We know this is a female because the black of her head, chest, and back continues unbroken around the forehead, forming a barrier between the white face and the crown. On males, there's no such extension of the black area: instead, the white face coloration travels farther up and directly touches the crown.

Taken in Prunedale, CA, 2023-08-21.