Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Sphyrapicus variusOrder: PICIFORMESFamily: Woodpeckers (Picidae)

General

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker: Medium-sized woodpecker with black-and-white mottled upperparts, white rump, and yellow-washed white underparts. Red throat has black border. Red crown and black-and-white striped face and neck are distinct. Wings are dark with large white shoulder patches; tail is black with black-barred, white center stripe. Female is similar but has a white throat. Juvenile is browner and lacks bright head and throat pattern.

Range and Habitat

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker: Breeds across Canada east of the Rockies to southern Labrador and Newfoundland south to the northern U.S. from North Dakota to New York and Connecticut and south through the Appalachians to northwest Georgia. Spends winters in the southeastern U.S., the West Indies, and in middle and high altitudes of Central America as far south as Panama. Preferred habitats include deciduous and mixed woods in foothills and lower montane regions.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"meow", "cheee-er, cheee-er", "hoih-hoih"

Interesting Facts

The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is considered a keystone species. Other species take advantage of the holes that the birds make in trees.
Originally a single species, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers were differentiated into three species in 1983 – Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Red-naped Sapsucker and Red-breasted Sapsucker. Similarities among the three species and uniqueness of individual birds can make identification difficult.
They hybridize with both the Red-naped and Red-breasted Sapsuckers where populations overlap.
A group of sapsuckers are collectively known as a "slurp" of sapsuckers.

Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker: Medium woodpecker, black-and-white mottled upperparts, white rump, yellow-washed white underparts. Red throat, black border. Red crown, black-and-white striped face, neck. Dark wings have white shoulder patch. Black tail has black-barred, white center stripe.

● Song: "meow", "cheee-er, cheee-er", "hoih-hoih"

● Foraging & Feeding: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker: Feeds on sap, insects, fruits, and berries. Hammers trees for insects; also creates sap wells in bark to collect sap and trap insects; sometimes catches insects in mid-air.

● Breeding & nesting: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker: Four to seven white eggs are laid in a tree cavity lined with wood chips. Incubation ranges from 12 to 13 days and is carried out by both parents (male at night, female during the day).

● Similar species: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker: Red-naped Sapsucker has red nape.

Flight Pattern

Alternates several rapid shallow wing beats with short glides.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Breeding Male Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker: Breeds across Canada east of the Rockies to southern Labrador and Newfoundland south to the northern U.S. from North Dakota to New York and Connecticut and south through the Appalachians to northwest Georgia. Spends winters in the southeastern U.S., the West Indies, and in middle and high altitudes of Central America as far south as Panama. Preferred habitats include deciduous and mixed woods in foothills and lower montane regions.

^BreedingMonogamous, Loose colonies, Small colonies

^PopulationCommon to fairly common

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight1.8 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America