Which statement best expresses the main idea?

Groups of acorn woodpeckers build and maintain shared food stores through repeated labor, though their storage patterns can vary. (The passage emphasizes group gathering, guarding, and maintenance across years while noting that some populations use natural cracks instead.)

Why can maintaining the granary continue after acorns have been stored?

Drying acorns may loosen, so birds need to refit them into smaller holes. (The passage links drying with shrinking and loosening, then describes moving an acorn to a tighter hole.)

What does “granary” mean in this passage?

a shared place where food is stored (The text immediately describes the granary as a tree where birds fit acorns into openings and share the stored resource.)

What storage method do some populations use instead of a central granary tree?

They place acorns in natural cracks. (The third paragraph states that birds in some parts of the range use natural cracks rather than drilling a central granary.)

The Communal Pantry of Acorn Woodpeckers: Level 3 Reading Comprehension Questions

An acorn woodpecker may return to a trunk dotted with hundreds of small holes. This is not random damage. In many groups, the birds use such a tree as a granary, fitting one acorn into each opening. The store is a shared resource rather than a private cupboard.

Group members gather acorns, drill holes, and guard the granary. As stored acorns dry, some shrink and loosen. The birds may move a loose acorn into a smaller hole, so maintaining the store continues after autumn gathering ends. One tree can be used over many years, with new holes added as older ones remain.

These woodpeckers also cooperate in raising young. Some group members help feed nestlings even when they are not the breeding parents. Their social life is complex, and not every population uses exactly the same storage pattern. In some parts of the species’ range, birds place acorns in natural cracks instead of drilling a central granary tree.

The familiar trunk therefore records repeated group labor. Its holes are not a plan drawn in advance by one bird. They accumulate through many trips, adjustments, and seasons. A durable common store emerges from small acts that different birds repeat and maintain.

Comprehension questions