Downy Woodpeckers Eat Pecans

Downy Woodpeckers Eat Pecans

Last 20 + years .......... Downy woodpeckers have been observed pecking holes in papershell pecans, aka Mahan, or aka Mississippi Giant pecans to eat. The shell is thin enough on these pecans for these small woodpeckers to easily penetrate. Only a few Stuart pecans were found to be also pecked by the downy woodpeckers. No other local woodpeckers were seen eating pecans.

During the fall, after the pecan nut husks dry and curl back, you can hear the downys pecking on the papershell pecans a good part of the day. Since this observation has been seen and heard for many years, it is suggested that downys in pecan-growing areas may either normally seek out pecans to eat, or this practice is being passed down from generation to generation in my area.

Since there are larval insects in the husks of the pecans, it is possible the downys were initially after these insects, broke through the shell while pecking for insects, liked the pecan taste, and then thereafter purposely pecked pecans for the pecan meat (and not the insects).

Peck holes are up to about 15 mm in diameter (N = 10), usually oval or round in shape, and almost always in the proximal half of the nut (attached end of nut).

Adrian R. Lawler, Ph.D.,  (C) 2011 --