Other Name.—Sapsucker (erroneous).
Description.—About the size of an English Sparrow. Precisely like the Hairy Woodpecker, but noticeably smaller, with shorter, weaker bill, and the outer tail-feathers distinctly barred with black. The Downy is quieter, less energetic bird than its larger cousin; its call-note is softer in quality and its song, which is composed of a series of call-notes rapidly repeated, is more musical than that of the Hairy Woodpecker. Length: A little under 7 inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—An abundant permanent resident, often seen in the towns.
Nest.—A cavity in a dead stub, usually from 15 to 30 feet from the ground, the entrance about 1½ inches in diameter. Eggs: 4 to 6, laid on a heap of small chips at the bottom of the cavity, glossy white.
The careful bird student can distinguish the Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers from call-notes, general appearance, flight, or even from the sound of their pounding on wood, which in the Hairy is so loud and positive in nature as to suggest, at times, a much larger bird. The amateur, however, may have some difficulty in distinguishing the two species.
The Downy and Hairy both like to be fed suet during the winter. They will come regularly to the feeding-counter and often become quite tame.
YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER
Sphyrapicus varius varius (Linnæus)
Other Names.—Yellow-bellied Woodpecker; Sapsucker.
Description.—Smaller than a Robin, with all the characteristics of the woodpecker tribe to which it belongs. Adult male: Top of head and throat rich, deep red; lines below crown-patch, back of eye, and enclosing throat to form prominent breast-patch, black; lines above and below eye white; back black, spotted with white; wings black, with prominent white patch on greater coverts, and primaries spotted; tail black, the central and outer feathers marked with white; underparts whitish and pale yellow, barred on sides and flanks with blackish gray. Adult female: Similar, but throat white. Immature birds are similar to the adult female, save on the head and back, which are brownish throughout, spotted irregularly with black and on top of head with flecks of red, yellow, and glossy black. Length: 8½ inches.
Range in Pennsylvania.—A common migrant, sometimes abundant, from March 30 to May 15 and from September 1 to November 15; rare and local as a summer resident in the northern and mountainous counties; casual in winter.
Nest.—A cavity in dead or living wood, often in a yellow birch, from 30 to 60 feet from the ground. Eggs: 3 to 6, glossy white.
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
The Sapsucker is, for the most part, a quiet and rather dignified woodpecker. Rarely does it pound noisily at a dead stub, searching for grubs. As a rule, it is to be seen drilling its sap-wells on the lower trunk of a maple, apple, or hemlock, where it clings sometimes for hours at a time if unmolested. These wells, which penetrate only to the sap-bearing layer of bark, are made in regular rows. Here gathers the sap which the bird regularly swallows, together with all the small insects which have come to drink. This sap-drilling is a destructive trait, for many valuable trees are girdled annually through the attacks, chiefly, of the migrant birds. During the summer the parents capture only insect food for their young.
The mewing note of the Sapsucker will startle the beginner in bird-study. It is almost as convincing an imitation of the cry of a cat as is the scolding, querulous call of a Catbird, and is a familiar sound of the spring woods.
When courtship starts, Sapsuckers quite forget their dignity and go flashing through the tree-tops, sometimes three or four in a flock, bowing and dancing, displaying their spotted wings and tails and giving forth loud and incessant Flicker-like cries of plee-kah, plee-kah.