Yellow-bellied sapsucker

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

Taxonomy

The yellow-bellied sapsucker was described and illustrated using a hand-coloured plate by the English naturalist Mark Catesby in his The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands which was published between 1729 and 1732. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition, he included the yellow-bellied sapsucker, coined the binomial name Picus varius and cited Catesby's book. The specific epithet varius is the Latin word meaning "various", "diverse" or "variegated". Linnaeus specified the type locality as America septentrionalis (North America) but the locality is now restricted to South Carolina. The yellow-bellied sapsucker is now placed in the genus Sphyrapicus that was erected in 1858 by the American naturalist Spencer Baird with the yellow-bellied sapsucker as the type species. Within the genus Sphyrapicus, the yellow-bellied sapsucker is sister to a clade containing the red-breasted sapsucker (Sphyrapicus ruber ) and the red-naped sapsucker (Sphyrapicus nuchalis). The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.

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Description

The yellow-bellied sapsucker has a length of around , and an average weight of , although this can range anywhere from . The yellow-bellied sapsucker has a wingspan that ranges from . The forehead is coloured bright red in the male (and very occasionally yellow), and a lighter shade of red in the female. Sometimes, this is the only place on the head a female will have red colouration, if it has any at all, as the female rarely has a black head with a few buff spots. The crown is bordered black, and is usually red, and is sometimes mixed with black in the female. There is a white stripe, starting above the eye, that extends and widens to the nape, being broken up by a thin black line on the hindneck. There is a broad black stripe going through the ear-coverts and down to the side of the neck. Below this black stripe is a white stripe that goes from the nasal tufts to the side of the breast. The throat and chin can be used to differentiated between the sexes, as they are white in the female, and red in the male.

Similar species

The red-naped sapsucker is distinguished by having a red nape (back of the head). The hairy woodpecker has no red on the crown (front of the head) or throat and has blacker back. The downy woodpecker has same markings as the hairy woodpecker but is significantly smaller.

Distribution and habitat

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.

When this sapsucker is breeding, it is generally found in deciduous and mixed coniferous forests up to altitude. During the non-breeding season, on the other hand, it usually inhabits forests, but the edge of the forest, open woodland, and semi-open habitats are sometimes utilized. It is also seen at larger trees in pastures, clearings, and suburban areas, in addition to the occasional appearance in palm groves. During this time, the yellow-bellied sapsucker ranges from sea level to elevations of , and even in some areas, although the bird normally stays between altitudes of . Berries are occasionally eaten, and in the Northern Hemisphere spring, buds are eaten. Arthropod prey is usually in the form of Lepidoptera, Odonata, or both the young and adults of beetles and ants. During the nesting season, insects comprise about half the diet of the adults. During the late Northern Hemisphere summer and throughout the same hemisphere's autumn, sap is the primary food of choice. These vocalizations are usually done by the hungriest chick, with the other joining in only when the parent is at the nest. Because of this, the hungriest chick gets fed first. Other trees of the genera Populus, Betula, and Acer are also used, in addition to deciduous trees of the genera Salix, Carya, Alnus and coniferous trees of the genera Pinus, Picea, and Abies.

Breeding

Yellow-bellied sapsuckers nest in a large cavity Other trees in the genus Populus and those in the genus Betula are popular choices. A study in the northeastern United States, however, concluded that this sapsucker has a search image for trees with the ideal attributes; one of these attributes was having a DBH of . The study also concluded that a deviance from this search image can be caused by the rarity of the trees that fulfill such criteria. Excavation of the cavity is done mostly by the male, The actual breeding season is from April to July.

During nest excavation, a bird may perform a courtship flight. This flight consists of the sapsucker rapidly flapping its wings below its partner. It seems to build the pair bond and help increase attachment to the nest. Members of a pair also perform a dance where they bob their heads and repeatedly opening their wings halfway. They also have the courtship ritual of touching their bills together. Courtship additionally consists of giving "quirk" notes and, from a distance, "kwee-urk" calls. Copulation can consist of the female perching perpendicularly on a branch, the male mounting her back, gradually falling backwards and to the left, until he is upside down and at a right angle to the female. Sapsuckers are restless but quiet during this time, After 25 to 29 days, the young leave the nest for this first time, and become independent after about two weeks. It is also host to Philopterus californiens, a philopterid louse.

Adults and nestlings can be killed by raccoons, especially if the nest is either too low or not deep enough. Sapsuckers are also especially susceptible to raccoon attacks when nesting in trees other than P. tremuloides infected by F. fomentarius. This is theorized to contribute to the evolution of a search image for ideal nesting trees. Sapsucker feeding can kill a tree by girdling, Certain tree species are particularly susceptible to dying after being damaged by yellow-bellied sapsuckers. For example, a USDA forest study that examined trees injured by yellow-bellied sapsuckers noted a mortality of 67% for Betula populifolia, 51% for B. papyrifera, and 40% for Acer rubrum. In other tree species, injuries inflicted by yellow-bellied sapsuckers can result in significantly less mortality. The USDA study noted that only 3% of Picea rubens and 1% of Tsuga canadensis that were injured by sapsuckers succumbed to their wounds.

File:Yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) juvenile.JPG|juvenile, Cuba

File:Yellow-bellied sapsucker juvenile (85726).jpg|juvenile, Brooklyn USA

File:Female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker-l.jpg|Molting juvenile female

File:Yellowbelliedsapsucker09.jpg|Male

File:Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, female.jpg|female, Ottawa, Canada

File:20240726 juvenile yellow bellied sapsucker pleasant valley PD207779 03.jpg|Juvenile. Lenox, MA

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References

External links

Yellow-bellied sapsucker Species Account—Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Yellow-bellied sapsucker - Sphyrapicus varius —USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
(for Antigua and Barbuda, Barbuda, Dominica, El Salvador, Nevis-(Saint Kitts and Nevis), Turks and Caicos Islands) at bird-stamps.org
Project sapsucker at the Royal Alberta Museum