Naturally Speaking
Share
Tweet
Photo courtesy of Jerry Davis
Like many woodpeckers, Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker males and females differ by the amount of red on their heads. Females have white throats and red caps, whereas males have red in both locations.
As their name implies, Sapsuckers collect sap by "drilling" holes in some tree species and take the sap that accumulates in the holes. Dozens upon dozens of holes in neat rows are a Sapsuckers signature presence of feeding on smooth-barked trees, including some pines and most fruit trees. The trees are not greatly damaged by a Sapsucker's hole-making.
Other birds, including Hummingbirds, steal from the Sapsuckers' work, while Sapsuckers take natural sap flows from spring Maples.
Come autumn, Yellow-Bellies head south, often beyond the U.S. border to Central America and West Indies.
