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.

_{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.





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.





Evidence of the Sapsucker’s presence is the circle markings on this birch and tree.





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.

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