Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius)

Order: Piciformes Family: Picidae Genus: Sphyrapicus Species: varius Profile: 2 positives 1 neutral No negatives Regional... This bird has been reportedly found in the following regions: Vincent, Alabama , British Columbia South Daytona, Florida Dacula, Georgia Coatesville, Indiana Oskaloosa, Kansas Baton Rouge, Louisiana Gulliver, Michigan Mattawan, Michigan Conway, Missouri Malden, New York Zena, New York Durham, North Carolina Corning, Ohio West Kingston, Rhode Island Austin, Texas Fredericksburg, Virginia Kewaskum, Wisconsin Member Notes: Rating Author Comment Positive nanny_56 On Mar 2, 2010, nanny_56 from Putnam County, IN (Zone 5b) wrote: I wish it visited more often. It only comes to the yard during winter. Most typically in January of February and so far we have only gotten immature birds. Would love to see a mature bird! Positive SingingTurtle On Jun 10, 2010, SingingTurtle from Saugerties, NY wrote: I've been trying to identify this bird for a couple of months. We have many different woodpeckers visiting our feeders, but this one has such different coloration that it really stands out. It's a bit more skittish than the other woodpeckers, so I've been unable to get a photo, but there's no question about the pale yellow color. We live in the woods in the Eastern Catskills, and are surrounded by sugar maples, birches, and red pines, all of which I understand to be favored by the yellow-bellied sapsucker. I don't see any other postings indicating the bird's presence in New York, so I assume they're not nearly as common as all the other woodpeckers we see. Neutral yooper99 On Aug 5, 2010, yooper99 from Gulliver, MI (Zone 5a) wrote: Four of these birds arrived recently and decided that our large white pine in the front yard would be their 24/7 restaurant. Their aggressive drilling of sap wells all around the trunk about seven feet above the ground was unacceptable. Several web searches convinced me that there were no easy cures. After some thought, I decided to add a skirt to the tree using the logic that they would not stop as long as they could see the sap wells. I used large bath towels and covered the damaged area by circling the entire tree. One bird did return and try to drill through the towel. After a few minutes of getting only strings from the towel, it left for easier pickings. I left the skirt on the tree for about three weeks. The birds have not returned. I will probably have to protect the damaged area for several years until the damage heals over.

By dellrose By dellrose By dellrose By beclu727 By linthicum By burn_2007 By burn_2007 There are a total of 14 photos. Click here to view them all!