Acorns are an important winter food for some birds.
Some Kentucky birds are likely to consume acorns as a part of their diet, particularly in winter. The sweeter acorns of the white oaks (white oak, post oak, bur oak, chestnut oak, etc,) are probably more widely eaten than the bitter, tannin-rich acorns of the red oaks (red oak, pin oak, scarlet oak, black oak, willow oak, etc.)
Wood Duck*Bobwhite
Wild Turkey
Eastern Crow
Blue Jay
Eastern Meadowlark
White-breasted Nuthatch
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Brown Thrasher
Tufted Titmouse
Downy Woodpecker
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Red-headed Woodpecker
Carolina Wren
*The wood duck's winter range includes a few counties in southwestern Kentucky.
This list was compiled from American Wildlife and Plants (bibliographical info.)
"The power to recognize trees at a glance without examining their leaves or flowers or fruit as they are seen, for example, from the car-window during a railroad journey, can only be acquired by studying them as they grow under all possible conditions over wide areas of territory. Such an attainment may not have much practical value, but once acquired it gives to the possessor a good deal of pleasure which is denied to less fortunate travelers."