Types of Sapsuckers

These interesting creatures are part of the wood pecker family, but instead of hunting for bugs, they hunt for sap.

Reliant Species

Other Bird Species

Various species of bird will adopt abandoned sapsucker holes to nest in.

Sapsucker Diets

Sick trees are preferred because they produce more sap. Sapsuckers are sometimes blamed for killing trees, but their visits may be a sign that the tree is already sick or stressed. 

"Nearly all species of birch and maple are acceptable trees but they will also use certain species of spruce and sometimes hemlock, cottonwood, aspen, mountain ash or pine. Sapsuckers play an important role here and should not be persecuted or blamed for killing trees. The red-naped sapsucker may be found in the Cypress Hills but the one you are most likely to see is the yellow-bellied sapsucker, which also feeds on insects. It is unusual in that it prefers to excavate a nest in a living tree, most often trembling aspen." - Wild Birds Unlimited

Trees

Birch

Hemlock

Maple

Mountain Ash

Pine

Spruce

Tools & Apps

Africa

Namibia

• Atlasing in Namibia: Bird Information System "Citizen science projects recording biodiversity and cultural heritage in Namibia"

Maps

North America

Red-Naped Sapsucker

• Red-naped Sapsucker - Sphyrapicus nuchalis offers several maps 

• Red-naped Sapsucker Range Map "Short-distant migrant. Red-naped Sapsuckers start departing for wintering grounds in the Southwest and farther south into Mexico in late August. They start heading north again in late March or early April." 

Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker

• Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Range Map "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. Females tend to migrate farther south than males, with a ratio of more than three females to one male having been counted in Central America."

Williamson's Sapsucker 

• ABC's Bird Library: Williamson's Sapsucker "Williamson's Sapsucker may be declining in some parts of its range due to habitat loss, particularly the loss of large snags (dead trees) required for nesting, especially on private lands."

• BirdWeb: Williamson's Sapsucker has a migration map and breeding range map.