Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius)
Female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, La Güira, Cuba, February 2005 - click on image for a larger view Cuba
February 2005

The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker breeds in Canada from the Rockies eastwards and in north-central, northeastern USA and down to the southern Appalachians. It winters in eastern and southern USA, Central America and the West Indies. It is found in woodland or forest and requires aspen or birch trees in which to excavate a nest.

Juvenile Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, La Güira, Cuba, February 2005 - click on image for a larger view It is barred black and white above with a long white wing patch and a red forehead. Below the belly is pale yellow. The male has a red throat while the female (photo 1) has a white throat. The juvenile (photo 2) is scaly brown with the long white wing patch and a dark crown with white stripes.

It not only feeds on insects, larvae, seeds and fruit but also on sap which it extracts from neat rows of holes that it drills into the trees.

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