Taken Sunday morning with my Canon 50D with a canon EF400L f/5.6. Later the same day another Yellow Bellied Sapsucker; this time a male both in the Parthenon area:
Posted in Wild Birds, tagged Arkansas, canon 50d, parthenon, wood duck, yellow bellied sapsucker on March 9, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Taken Sunday morning with my Canon 50D with a canon EF400L f/5.6. Later the same day another Yellow Bellied Sapsucker; this time a male both in the Parthenon area:
Posted in Wild Birds, tagged 2015, Arkansas, cold day, Feburary, Newton County, parthenon, yellow bellied sapsucker on February 12, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Got this photo on this sunny but cold day on Murray Road in central Newton County, Arkansas. This is a female. Their numbers increase through March and April; then they are gone until next fall:
Posted in Shrubs and Trees, Wild Birds, tagged ar, male and female, nw arkansas, parthenon, spring arrival, yellow bellied sapsucker, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers on March 21, 2014| Leave a Comment »
I took these on Friday, one week ago, along Murray Road with a Canon 7D and a Canon EF400L Lens. The Male looks a little beaten up and the fmale is beautiful.I only get to see these wonderful birds in the very early spring while they migrate north to their breeding grounds:
From Cornell Labs:
On a walk through the forest you might spot rows of shallow holes in tree bark. In the East, this is the work of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, an enterprising woodpecker that laps up the leaking sap and any trapped insects with its specialized, brush-tipped tongue. Attired sharply in barred black-and-white, with a red cap and (in males) throat, they sit still on tree trunks for long intervals while feeding. To find one, listen for their loud mewing calls or stuttered drumming.
In spring and summer, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers favor young forests and edge habitat, especially areas regenerating from timber harvesting. There they find lots of fast-growing trees ripe for sapwells (and since they can spend half their time or more tending to or feeding from their sapwells, sapsuckers needs lots of trees for tapping). So unlike most woodpecker species, sapsuckers don’t rely on dead trees for feeding, although they do search for trees with decayed heartwood or dead limbs for their cavity nests. On their wintering grounds, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers aren’t as selective in habitat, as they’re found from bottomland hardwood forests to as high as 10,000 feet, though never in pure conifer stands. In winter, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers can be found in forests of hickory or pines and oaks.
Posted in Wild Birds, tagged ar, Arkansas, Boston Mountains, County, Hickory tree, Newton, parthenon, yellow bellied sapsucker on March 7, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Just a photo; caught him (it’s a male) flying from a ring of sap holes in a Hickory tree. Taken with a Canon 7D with a Canon EF 300 f/2.8 IS at 75 feet; just off Murray Road near Parthenon, Arkansas. They are beautiful birds ! They drink sap from a ring of hole they dig around a tree (look at the tree to the left).
Posted in Wild Birds, tagged nature, sapsuckers, shallow holes, yellow bellied sapsucker, yellow bellied sapsucker in fall migration in murray valley September on September 20, 2012| 5 Comments »
He is in migration southward and looks pretty battered, but it’s the first I’ve seen since last April; they are not really common like a Downey Woodpecker here in the mountains.
On a walk through the forest you might spot rows of shallow holes in tree bark. In the East, this is the work of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, an enterprising woodpecker that laps up the leaking sap and any trapped insects with its specialized, brush-tipped tongue. Attired sharply in barred black-and-white, with a red cap and (in males) throat, they sit still on tree trunks for long intervals while feeding. To find one, listen for their loud mewing calls or stuttered drumming.
Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers are mostly black and white with boldly patterned faces. Both sexes have red foreheads, and males also have red throats. Look for a long white stripe along the folded wing. Bold black-and-white stripes curve from the face toward a black chest shield and white or yellowish underparts.
Yellow-belled Sapsuckers perch upright on trees, leaning on their tails like other woodpeckers. 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.
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. Occasionally, sapsuckers visit bird feeders for suet.