Wild Animals
Wild Animals
Roland Kays
5715: The Woodpecker Who’s Seen It All
34 minutes Posted Feb 27, 2023 at 11:24 am.
0:00
34:51
Download MP3
Show notes

Bird 5715 was the, you guessed it, 5715th bird captured as part of a long-term study of acorn woodpeckers since 1974 at Hastings Natural History Reservation in Carmel Valley California. She had the fortune of being born into the richest territory around, with tens of thousands of acorns stashed into woodpecker-created holes in trees (aka granaries). However, this privileged upbringing also presented challenges to her finding a mate under the watchful eye of her record-setting father, forcing 5715 into a series of gang fights and walkabouts.