Yellow-bellied sapsucker
Sphyrapicus varius
L 7¾″
Habitat: The yellow-bellied sapsucker (sometimes called red-naped) is most abundant along streams in mixed hardwood-conifer forests. It is also found in ponderosa pine, aspen, mixed conifer, lodgepole pine, and in mixed stands of fir-larch-pine.
Nest: Yellow-bellied sapsuckers usually nest in cavities in snags or live trees with rotten heartwood. Aspen seems to be the preferred species (Howell 1952, Lawrence 1967, Kilham 1971), but nests have also been found in ponderosa pine, birch, elm, butternut, cottonwood, alder, willow, beech, maple, and fir (Bent 1939). Kilham (1971) noted that nest trees were often infected by the Fomes fungus. Nest height varies from 5 to 70 feet above ground. The same nest tree is often used repeatedly, but a new cavity is excavated each year.
Food: Sap is eaten throughout the year by the yellow-bellied sapsucker, but the amount taken and tree species used vary seasonally (Tate 1973, Lawrence 1967). The birds regularly tap one or two “favorite trees” in their area; Oliver (1970) found that these tend to be trees which have been wounded (by logging, porcupines, etc.). About 80 percent of the insect food taken consists of ants (McAtee 1911). Other insects in their diet include beetles and wasps, but none of the woodboring larvae. The fruits of dogwood, black alder, Virginia creeper, and blackberries are included in the small portion of vegetable matter eaten (Bent 1939).