Bird of the Week: Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) is a robin-sized woodpecker. You may see them on the side of trees perched upright. One way this bird can be identified is by their colors. You will notice their black and white coloration with a red forehead. If you spot this species and the throat is red, you have identified a male! Another way to identify a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is by their call, it sounds like a scratchy congested mewing sound that will be repeated.

Have you seen a tree with holes in a horizontal row? This could have been done by this species or another woodpecker! Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers tend to make horizontal rows of clean-cut shallow holes in trees. They tend to do this on sugar maple, red maple, hickory, yellow birch, and paper birch trees. Happy Birding!