Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Male
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Piciformes
Family:	Picidae
Genus:	Sphyrapicus
Species:	S. varius
Binomial name
Sphyrapicus varius (Linnaeus, 1766)

The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) is a medium-sized woodpecker found in North America, Central America and the Caribbean.

Taxonomy

The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is part of the New World sapsucker genus Sphyrapicus, which is within the woodpecker family Picidae. The genus also includes the Red-naped Sapsucker, Red-breasted Sapsucker, and Williamson's Sapsucker.

Description

Male, Ottawa, Ontario

The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is a mid-sized woodpecker, measuring 18–22 cm (7.1–8.7 in) in length, 34–40 cm (13–16 in) in wingspan and weighing from 40–63 g (1.4–2.2 oz). Adults are black on the back and wings with white bars; they have a black head with white lines down the side and a red forehead and crown, a yellow breast and upper belly, a white lower belly and rump and a black tail with a white central bar. Adult males have a red throat; females have a white throat.

Vocalization

They drum and give a cat-like call in spring to declare ownership of territory.

Similar Species

Red-naped Sapsucker is distinguished by having a red nape (back of the head). The Hairy Woodpecker has no red on the crown (front of the head) or throat and has blacker back. The Downy Woodpecker has same markings as the Hairy but is significantly smaller.

Distribution and habitat

Their breeding habitat is forested areas across Canada, eastern Alaska and the northeastern United States. They prefer young, mainly deciduous forests. There is also a disjunct population found in high elevations of the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina.

Ecology and Behavior

Diet

Holes in a dying White birch, Jacques-Cartier National Park

Like other sapsuckers, these birds drill holes in trees and eat the sap and insects drawn to it. They may also pick insects from tree trunks or catch them in flight. They also eat fruit and berries.

Reproduction

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers nest in a large cavity excavated in a deciduous tree, often choosing one weakened by disease; the same site may be used for several years. Both the male and the female work in making the nest, where five or seven white eggs are well concealed. Both birds share in hatching.

They will mate with the same partner from year to year, as long as both birds survive. They sometimes hybridize with Red-naped Sapsuckers or Red-breasted Sapsuckers where their breeding ranges overlap.

Wintering and Migration

These birds migrate to the southeastern United States, West Indies and Central America, leaving their summer range. This species has occurred as a very rare vagrant to Ireland and Great Britain.

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  Molting juvenile female

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  Male

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  Female, Ottawa, Ontario

External links

• Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Species Account - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
• Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Information and Photos - South Dakota Birds and Birding
• Yellow-bellied Sapsucker - Melanerpes carolinus - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
• Stamps (for Antigua and Barbuda, Barbuda, Dominica, El Salvador, Nevis-(Saint Kitts and Nevis), Turks and Caicos Islands)
• Yellow-bellied Sapsucker videos on the Internet Bird Collection
• Yellow-bellied Sapsucker photo gallery VIREO
• Project Sapsucker Royal Alberta Museum
• Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Natural Resources Canada
• Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Natural History Notebooks