Family:
The yellow-bellied sapsucker is a small black and white woodpecker with long wings, a stiff pointed tail, and stout straight bill.
Male yellow-bellied sapsuckers have a black back mottled with white, black breast, and white or pale yellow underparts. There is a long white vertical stripe along the folded wing. The head is boldly patterned with a black stripe through the eye while the forehead and neck are red. The crown feathers are often held erect to form a crown at the back of the head.
The eyes are dark brown, the bill is dark grey or black, and the legs and feet are blue-grey or green-grey. Females are similar to males but have a lighter red crown and white throat.
Like our more familiar woodpeckers, the yellow-bellied sapsucker drums on trees to communicate in rapid bursts that become more drawn out over time.
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Yellow-bellied sapsuckers feed on insects, fruit, nuts, and the sap from trees. They drill tiny holes in the bark in neatly spaced rows and return periodically to feed on the sap that oozes from the tree.
Yellow-bellied sapsuckers breed in Canada, eastern Alaska, and the northeast United States in deciduous and coniferous forests. They spend the winter in the eastern United States, the West Indies, and Central America where they can be spotted in open woodland, the edges of forests, and suburban areas.
One Response
I saw a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in my garden in Essex, United Kingdom.