granary tree

plural granary trees

1. A tree used by acorn woodpeckers to store acorns.

   If the acorn is to be stored rather than eaten, the bird brings it to the granary tree and drives it into a vacant storage hole.

   2001, Living Bird, volumes 20-21, page 40

   2 more examples

   One granary tree can have up to 50,000 holes in it, each holding a single acorn. In parts of its range the acorn woodpecker does not construct a granary tree, but instead stores acorns in natural holes and cracks in bark.

   2010, Six Rivers National Forest (N.F.), Beaverslide Timber Sale and Fuel Treatment Project: Environmental Impact Statement

   These three birds are at a “granary tree” or “nut pole,” where there are many stored acorns, but no grain, despite the name.

   2011, Peter Goodfellow, Avian Architecture: How Birds Design, Engineer, and Build