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female

male

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Sphyrapicus varius

MIGRATION

SUMMER

Size:	8-9" (20-22.5 cm)
Male:	Medium-sized woodpecker with a checkered back. Red forehead, crown and chin. Tan-to-yellow breast and belly. White wing patches flash while flying.
Female:	similar to male, white chin
Juvenile:	similar to female, dull brown and lacks any red marking
Nest:	cavity; female and male excavate; 1 brood per year
Eggs:	5-6; white without markings
Incubation:	12-13 days; female and male incubate, female incubates during the day, male at night
Fledging:	25-29 days; female and male feed young
Migration:	complete, to southern states, Mexico and Central America
Food:	insects, tree sap; comes to suet feeders
Compare:	Similar to other woodpeckers, but the male is the only woodpecker in New Hampshire and Vermont with a red chin. Female Yellow-bellied has a white chin.

Stan’s Notes: Drills holes in a pattern of horizontal rows in small- to medium-sized trees to bleed tree sap. Many birds drink from the sapsucker taps. Oozing sap also attracts insects, which sapsuckers eat. Sapsuckers will defend their sapping sites from the other birds. They don’t suck sap; rather, they lap it with their long tongues. A quiet bird with few vocalizations, but will mew like a cat. Unlike other woodpeckers, drumming rhythm is irregular.