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Animal profile

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Sphyrapicus varius

AvesYoung deciduous and mixed forest, especially with birch, maple and aspenLeast Concern

Field profile

The yellow-bellied sapsucker is a medium-sized woodpecker that drills orderly rows of shallow holes in tree bark and feeds on the sap that wells up, together with trapped insects. It is the only woodpecker in eastern North America that is fully migratory.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2023-09-16

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Sapsucker wells feed a whole community

The neat horizontal rows of holes a sapsucker drills keep sap flowing for weeks, and the birds tend them like a crop. Hummingbirds, warblers, squirrels, bats and insects all feed at the wells they maintain.

Read with evidence →

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | Daily Animal Facts