Yellow bellied sapsucker

http://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?a=2723&q=416874

Yellow bellied sapsucker Sphyrapicus varius 

The Yellow bellied sapsucker belongs to the Picidae family. 

They have red heads and necks, with a black bill. The undersides are a pale yellow and the back are white and black mottled effect.

They spend their time sitting on branches and using their tail to help them balance. They feed on the small holes which they make with their bills which contain sap.  


They are found in conifer, hardwood forests, pines, oak woodlands. The nest are tucked into small crevices in the tree. In the summer they tend to spend most of their time in young forest, as this contains many sap trees. 

During spring, courtship starts, the the male chasing the females round the trees. Courting and aggressive sapsuckers will perch on a branch facing one another, with their chest pushed out and throat feathers plumped up. The females will lay around six eggs, incubation is thirteen days. The males do the night time and the females during the day. The young leave the nest at thirty days. The parents teach the young how to get sap out of the trees. 

Allaboutbirds.org, (2015). Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. [online] Available at: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow-bellied_Sapsucker/lifehistory [Accessed 15 Apr. 2015].

Audubon, (2014). Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. [online] Available at: http://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/yellow-bellied-sapsucker [Accessed 15 Apr. 2015].