THIS EVENT IS CANCELLED.

Eric Walters has been studying woodpeckers for over three decades. He obtained his BSc and MSc at the University of Victoria in British Columbia. At Florida State University, his PhD research focused on the community of species associated with red-cockaded woodpecker cavities. Beginning in 2006, he began working on acorn woodpeckers during postdocs at UC Berkeley and Cornell University. He is currently a Full Professor at Old Dominion University where he and his students continue to study the bizarre antics of acorn woodpeckers.

Acorn woodpeckers are a cooperatively breeding species that exbibits cooperative behavior in a number of ways. Cobreeding males and joint-nesting females cooperate to raise helpers within their defended territories. Offspring of both sexes within the group, known as helpers, provision nests and help defend the territory. A major component of acorn woodpecker life history is the gathering and storing of acorns in large granaries. Work over the past several decades has focused on understanding the complex behaviors exhibited by this species. As technology has increased, so has our understanding of mechanisms of inheritance, dispersal, and overall group living. This talk will focus on some of the major advances and current lines of investigation of this complex avian system.