where did yellow bellied sapsucker come from

The yellow-bellied sapsucker is found across Canada, eastern Alaska and the northeastern United States. These birds winter in the eastern United States, West Indies

and Central America. This species has occurred as a very rare vagrant to Ireland and Great Britain.

Full Answer

Where do yellow-bellied sapsuckers come from?

The mostly black and white boldly patterned faces of the yellow-bellied sapsucker ( Sphyrapicus varius) is found across Canada, eastern Alaska, and the northeastern United States. Besides being fairly small with a short stout beak, these birds have a unique characteristic: they absolutely love sap. Where exactly does this sap come from?

What kind of bird is a yellow belly sapsucker?

The yellow-bellied sapsucker ( Sphyrapicus varius) is a medium-sized woodpecker that breeds in Canada and the northeastern United States .

What do yellow-bellied sapsuckers eat?

Yellow-bellied sapsuckers are a unique woodpecker species that gets food in many ways including foraging for fruit and insects, drinking sap, and even baiting insects with sap. Most woodpeckers are known for their rhythmic pecking on large dead limbs to excavate insects from decaying portions of trees.

What is the future of the yellow-bellied sapsucker?

Even into the future, many will get to continue to experience the presence of the yellow-bellied sapsucker. Sapsuckers are tied to early successional, or regenerating, stands of trees.

Where are yellow-bellied sapsuckers found?

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers live in both hardwood and conifer forests up to about 6,500 feet elevation. They often nest in groves of small trees such as aspens, and spend winters in open woodlands.

How did the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker get its name?

The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker gets its name from its ability to drill “sapwells” in trees with its beak. Basically, Sapsuckers make the sapwells to feed off the phloem sap, as well as on insects (mostly ants) that get stuck in it. The phloem sap is the nutrient-rich sap that flows down from the leaves towards the roots.

Are Yellow-bellied Sapsucker rare?

Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker Conservation These birds are not considered threatened or endangered, but they are occasionally persecuted because of a belief that their wells may damage trees. While it is true that a heavily drilled tree may suffer, this is rare and not usually a cause for concern.

Does the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker migrate?

Migration. Short- to long-distance migrant. Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers depart their breeding range in September and early October for wintering grounds in the southern U.S., Mexico, West Indies, and Central America. They arrive back north in May.

What is the difference between a woodpecker and a sapsucker?

Sapsuckers and woodpeckers are two types of birds that hammer holes in tree trunks, but they do it for different purposes. Sapsuckers target live trees and eat the sap that runs out of the holes they make; woodpeckers usually hammer on dead or decaying trees in search of wood-boring insects and to mark their territory.

Is the yellow-bellied sapsucker endangered?

Least Concern (Population decreasing)Yellow-bellied sapsucker / Conservation status

How do you get rid of yellow-bellied sapsucker?

The most commonly recommended control method is to wrap burlap around the affected area to discourage the sapsucker from returning. Sticky repellents applied to the tree bark are also used, as well as hanging bright, shiny objects such as pie tins, streamers, or beach balls as scare devices.

What kind of trees do yellow-bellied sapsuckers like?

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers choose many of the same tree species for nesting that they use for drilling wells, including aspen, birch, maple, beech, and elm. Trees used for nesting are often alive but are usually infected with a fungus that causes the tree's heartwood or sapwood to decay, making excavation easier.

Why is it called sapsucker?

Sapsuckers get their name from their habit of boring holes into the cambium layer or inner bark, letting the sap exude and run down the trunk. The birds wipe up or suck the oozing sap with their brush-like tongues. They return again and again to the same tree and also consume the insects attracted to the sap.

How do yellow-bellied sapsuckers affect trees?

Damage varies considerably, depending on the persistence of attack. Lightly attacked trees usually make a complete recovery. On the other hand, branches girdled with several rows of holes are often permanently damaged, and smaller trees or tops of trees may be killed by severe attack in several successive years.

How do you prevent sapsucker damage to trees?

Recurrent sap- sucker damage may be prevented in susceptible trees by wrapping damaged areas with a loose, coarse material such as burlap. Once the feeding period has passed, the burlap should be removed from the plant. A lightweight netting may work well as a covering on shrubs.

How are yellow-bellied sapsuckers different from most other woodpeckers?

Yellow-bellied sapsuckers (Sphyrapicus varius) are a unique species of woodpecker. At some point during the year, they can be found throughout most of Canada and the eastern half of the U.S. However, unlike our other woodpeckers, the yellow-bellied sapsucker is migratory with distinct summer and winter ranges.

What is a yellow-bellied sapsucker?

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers are fairly small woodpeckers with stout, straight bills. The long wings extend about halfway to the tip of the stiff, pointed tail at rest. Often, sapsuckers hold their crown feathers up to form a peak at the back of the head.

Where do sapsuckers feed?

They feed at sapwells—neat rows of shallow holes they drill in tree bark. They lap up the sugary sap along with any insects that may get caught there. Sapsuckers drum on trees and metal objects in a distinctive stuttering pattern. 483834 from All About Birds, Cornell Lab on Vimeo. Play.

What bird has a white throat?

Woodpecker with a stout bill and vertical white wing patches. Males have a red crown and throat. Sapsuckers have vertical white wing patches along the side of the folded wing. Underparts vary from whitish to pale yellow. Females have a red crown and a white throat.

Where do yellowbellied sapsuckers live?

The yellow-bellied sapsucker ( Sphyrapicus varius ), a species of woodpecker found across Canada, eastern Alaska, and the northeastern United States, takes its ecosystem engineering job a step further. This species will drill a network of little holes called “sapwells” into the bark of trees, where sugar-rich sap wells up from the trees vasculature, which they then drink. In addition, many other species of insects, birds, and mammals will also feed on the sweet tree sap, making the sapsucker a top candidate in assisting the ecosystem.

Who is the sapsucker scientist?

I covered this visible aspect of sapsucker natural history in a previous blog. But this woodpecker has a lot more to offer a curious naturalist. Libby Natola, a PhD Candidate in the Department of Zoology at University of British Columbia, is the ultimate sapsucker scientist. She is a font of knowledge on this very important, and very quirky, species.

Why do woodpeckers use drums?

When it comes to a woodpecker’s drum, they use this in the same way passerines use songs: to advertise themselves and their territories to potential mates, and to let other males know that territory is occupied.

Is a sapsucker aggressive?

They’re thought to be so aggressive that they’re outcompeting the substantially bigger red-breasted sapsucker and pushing it out of its historical breeding range . They can also be aggressive to humans who study them. I know from personal observation.”.

Can a yellowbellied sapsucker nest survive if the female dies?

In fact, some research suggests the nest can survive if the female dies, but if the male dies, the nest will fail. Excellent examples of co-parenting.”. In terms of migration, yellow-bellied sapsuckers are some of the only migratory woodpeckers.

Is Natola a yellow-bellied sapsucker?

Having extensive knowledge of yellow-bellied sapsuckers, Natola has grown fond of the species and shares her interesting facts with anyone who is curious. For example, you may not know that although this species is quite small, they are in fact, pretty bold!

Is the yellowbellied sapsucker endangered?

Although the yellow-bellied sapsucker is not of conservation concern, Natola still provides us ways in which we can help sapsuckers, as well as many other bird species, when it comes to their conservation needs. “Like most birds, I’d say their biggest threats are windows and cats.

Why are yellowbellied sapsuckers important?

Natola goes on to express just how important yellow-bellied sapsuckers are for both the ecosystem as well as biodiversity. “Many other species of insects, birds, and mammals will also feed on the sweet tree sap. Therefore, if you are lucky to get a sapsucker on your property, they will likely enrich your yard with biodiversity, ...

Where did Georgia Silvera Seamans observe the yellow-bellied sapsucker?

Georgia Silvera Seamans, another avid birder, recalls her yellow-bellied sapsucker observation, which also occurred in Washington Square Park. Silvera Seamans also notes the park as being the place where she first fell in love with the species.

What is a sapsucker tied to?

Sapsuckers are tied to early successional, or regenerating, stands of trees. Because of the pastoral history of the east coast, the forests were largely cleared for agriculture in ...

What is the name of the tree sapsucker that drills holes in the bark of trees?

Yellow-bellied sapsuckers will drill a network of little holes called “sapwells” into the bark of trees, where sugar-rich sap wells up from the trees vasculature, which they then drink. One journal article called them a “ double-keystone species ” as both their holes and the sap that seeps out are essential for a host of creatures.

Do sapsuckers like basswood?

By contrast, the sapsucker seemed to prefer Juneberry and Basswood trees out of proportion to their abundance: those species each made up less than 5% of the sampled trees, but about 30% of the trees with sapsucker damage! Ultimately, my hypotheses about tree species preference weren’t supported.”.

Where did the term "yellowbellies" originate?

An earlier and completely different use of “yellow-bellies” apparently first arose in England as a humorous reference to residents of Lincolnshire, without the connotation of cowardly, as far as I can tell. The regimental flag had a yellow background, and frogs found in the fens were in fact yellow-bellied, so we find the term in print around 1796. ...

What does it mean to be yellow-bellied?

A person with guts is a person with courage. The combination yellow-bellied was thus a double way of saying the person had no courage. That usage first appeared around 1925 in the U.S.

What does the color yellow mean?

The color yellow has traditionally been associated with cowardice, treachery, inconstancy and jealousy. Brewsters says that in France, the doors of traitors’ houses were daubed with yellow. The medieval yellow star (continued by the Nazis) branded Jews as having “betrayed Jesus.”. In medieval paintings, Judas Iscariot (ultimate symbol of treason) ...

What does the yellow flag mean?

Other uses of yellow include the yellow flag as a symbol of quarantine, intended to isolate victims of yellow fever.

What is a yellow dog?

On the American frontier in the early 1800s, a “yellow-dog” was anything worthless. The combination of yellow (cowardly, treacherous) with the belly or guts (stamina, grit, heroism) seems pretty obvious. A person with guts is a person with courage.

How did cholera get its name?

The disease cholera got its name from the symptom of, ah, yellowish diarrhea. From there to yellow as symbol of jealousy and inconstancy was a pretty easy step. Yellow and yellow-bellied haven’t always had a negative connotation.

Why did the Inquisition wear yellow?

In Spain, victims of the Inquisition wore yellow, to imply they were guilty of heresy and treason. On the American frontier in the early 1800s, a “yellow-dog” was anything worthless.

Where did the term "yellow belly" come from?

What's the origin of the phrase 'Yellow-belly'? The term 'yellow-belly' is an archetypal American term, but began life in England in the late 18th century as a mildly derogatory nick-name. Grose's A Provincial Glossary: with a collection of local proverbs, and popular superstitions, 1787, lists it: "Yellow bellies.

Why are Wexford hurlers called yellowbellies?

This has a literal element, in that the Wexford players played with yellow cloth tied around their waist to distinguish them from Cornwall, and this caused them to be nicknamed The Yellowbellies. Wexford do still play in yellow and the name has stuck, although it isn't clear when the nickname was first used. This story, in as much as it can be verified at all at this late date, has no connotations of cowardice. The team might just as likely been called the bluebellies or greenbellies if different material had been available on the day. In fact, none of the early English/Irish uses of the name suggest cowardice. For that sense we have to travel to the USA.

What magazine published an account of life in the Staffordshire Collieries?

The usage wasn't limited to the Lincolnshire Fens. In the same year, Knight's Quarterly Magazine (London) published an account of life in the the Staffordshire Collieries.

Does Wexford still play in yellow?

Wexford do still play in yellow and the name has stuck, although it isn't clear when the nickname was first used. This story, in as much as it can be verified at all at this late date, has no connotations of cowardice.