Feathered Friday: Yellow Bellied Sapsucker
#featheredfriday is hosted by @keithboone.
Check HERE to see his post and send some birds his way.
My entry is a bird decreasing in number.
When you hear a drumming sound and see this redhead in the trees, you may think it’s the red-headed woodpecker.
It is a medium-sized woodpecker called a Yellow Bellied Sapsucker.
![image](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://img.esteem.ws/933m5cgo5i.jpg)
Canon EOS Rebel T6
1/320 f/5.6 250MM ISO 100
The Yellow Bellied Sapsucker breeds in Canada, Alaska and the north-northeastern United States. In winter they migrate to warmer climates but come back in the early spring to breed.
![image](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://img.esteem.ws/j031oyuq1o.jpg)
I saw this one last summer in the forest by the house and think it is the female sapsucker or a young one. The female does not always have the red forehead.
![image](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://img.esteem.ws/ktfty5wyc7.jpg)
Evidence of the Sapsucker’s presence is the circle markings on this birch and tree.
![image](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://img.esteem.ws/tbfrhu6gfh.jpg)
The sapsucker uses it’s straight beak to drill holes in the bark to extract the sap and any insects that are hiding there.
Another tree I found the Sapsucker had used to feed.
These birds are monogamous. The male arrives on the nesting grounds early in the Northern Hemisphere spring about one week before the female.
The little Sapsucker population is decreasing. In Canada and the United States, yellow-bellied sapsuckers are listed and protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
![](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://imgur.com/ghXxAQQ.jpg)
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I sure hope their populations can recover! All the birds that eat the bugs the we/farmers attempt to kill with poisons are in trouble , aren't they? Great photos
Thanks Melinda. There is a huge decline in birds, butterflies and bees ... not the population around I saw years ago. What will it be like in a few more years?
There seems to be more poisons put on crops and we eat the produce. I don’t like whatever they use now to kill the potato tops before harvesting.
It is quite terrifying what we are doing to our world.
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Wow, isn't that interesting... the marks on the back. I've never seen this before. Great photos and information. Thanks for posting in Feathered Friday! Voted & resteemed :-)
Thanks so much Keith!
Amazing what these birds did to the bark of the tree. I did not know that they are called sapsuckers.
We have great spotted woodpecker in our neighborhood. I had never managed to make a decent photo of it. But I keep on trying.:-)
I’ve seen the Pileated Woodpecker, the biggest of the woodpecker in North America.![17DCD3C7-766F-48D8-BE52-55E5A3BAFEF6.jpeg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmf9A2zp7F8Fsg6413sUednfyu5Eqi5qoNuFhceSCPS96R/17DCD3C7-766F-48D8-BE52-55E5A3BAFEF6.jpeg)
Source
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Wow, it is big! There are no woodpeckers so big in our lands.
I wonder if Jon @janton has woodpeckers that big in Texas. 😊
Might. 😀 You never know. LOL
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Great photos Jo!! I love to hear the woodpeckers! I heard one last week when I went to the Loch but he was way too far away to get a photo.
Thanks Dee. It’s hard to get a photo of them. 💕
You're very welcome!! xoxo
Great photos! I love sapsuckers. We have lots of them around here.
Thanks @goat-girls. I’ve only see A couple around our forest. I love hearing their pecking. 😊
howdy redheadpei! That's a very striking bird there, very cool looking! I hope they don't go extinct or anything, they leave cool looking patterns too.
Thanks Cowboy. I see a couple around the forest. I hope they survive and reproduce.
Any woodpeckers in Texas?
Howdy redheadpei! yes I've heard woodpeckers in the distance because we have alot of trees around our property and the neighbors but I haven't seen them so I don't know what kind. Probably big ones though. lol.