I watched two hairy woodpeckers, a female and a juvenile male, opening oak stem galls and eating the larvae inside. While the juvenile was getting the hang of extracting the larvae, the female was periodically feeding him. It didn’t take the female long to open one and find the larvae inside. The center of the gall had a woody core that housed several larvae in different chambers. It was fun watching them open the galls with ease. Debris was noticeably accumulating on the ground as they enthusiastically unpacked the spongy insides to get at the prize.
