BIRDS OF NANTUCKET
by Kenneth Turner Blackshaw

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

THE YELLOW-BELLIED SAPSUCKER

What an unfortunate moniker! Imagine your name being often picked as the ultimate insult. Most people using the term have no idea there is a real bird - actually four species - that go by the name "sapsucker." The one we have here in the east is the Yellow-bellied variety.

Let's set the record straight. These are really woodpeckers. They skitter their way up tree trunks like the rest of their clan and they "rat-a-tat-tat" on wood. In addition they have some interesting behavior for which they are named. Sucking sap!

The Latin name of this feathered beast is Sphyrapicus varius, provided by Spencer Fullerton Baird who, as a teenage prodigy back in 1840, wrote an impressive letter to John James Audubon. Audubon in turn encouraged Baird to the point that he went on to become secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Sphyra is Greek for hammer, and Picus was a character in mythology turned into a woodpecker by a jealous lover. Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers are just a little larger than our familiar Downy Woodpecker, but seem more long-winged and graceful. They are more likely to fly aerobatically from place to place on a tree trunk rather than laboriously hitch their way along by degrees. At first glance they appear black and white like the Downy, but the pattern is much different. They sport a striking white patch on the inner wing that becomes a vertical splotch on the side when the wing is folded. They have a sharply defined black and white head pattern with a crimson forehead. The males also have a bright red throat. Yellow may not be the first word that comes to your mind when you see the belly, but it certainly is creamy.

You may not have seen a sapsucker but I bet you've seen its work. Have you ever noticed a horizontal row of small holes punched in the side of a tree? Perhaps you thought insects did it, but no, this is the mark of a sapsucker. They move around the tree, drilling little holes. Later they come back and lick up the sap that oozes out. Sometimes insects get stuck in the goo and these are consumed as well.

Obviously this trick only works during the part of the year when sap is running, but they continue to do their homework all year, returning over and over again to the same trees. When the sap does begin to flow, they are ready. They also eat a lot of insects, many of which are caught on the wing by these graceful woodpeckers. In the Adirondacks where they nest, the sap wells they create are also used by other nesting birds to feed upon. Ruby-throated Hummingbirds frequently use these natural feeding stations.

Woodpecker tongues are a marvel of nature. They are often several times longer than the bird's beak. Sapsucker tongues are also long and possess feathery attachments at the end making it possible to extract sap and insects from well inside a tree.

Like other members of the family they possess the tools and diligence to excavate a nesting cavity. It is quite a feat for a bird this size to dig out a cavity over a foot deep and half as wide, carrying the wood chips out through the inch and a half opening. They make it easier on themselves by usually choosing a tree that has started to decay.

Five or six eggs are laid inside and both sexes share in incubation duties. The chicks start out with a diet of maple syrup, water and a few insects. When the young finally emerge, they are a real puzzle for birdwatchers. They lack the sharp black-and-white patterns of the adults, being a mottled sooty gray all over except for the distinctive white wing patch.

That is how many of them arrive on Nantucket in the fall. At this season they are described as furtive. They are generally silent and when approached, scoot around to the other side of the tree and peek out at you. They hang around most of the winter and we've found a few on the last eight Christmas Bird Counts. When spring comes, their behavior changes. They become little chatty Cathies, their mewing calls giving them away. They are also much more active, chasing each other about.

Sapsuckers were almost unheard of here when I started birding in the 1950s. Perhaps we're better at finding them now, but they are still a treat. Many birders drop everything and head out to search if one is reported. Although we enjoy their bright colors and interesting behavior, foresters find them a tough love. The holes they make damage trees and provide entry points for fungus and other tree diseases. Our natural world is complex and no creature is totally good or totally bad.

George C. West creates illustrations for these articles. If you enjoy 'social' birding, join the Nantucket Bird Club at 8 a.m. Sundays in front of Nantucket High School for a two to three hour birding trip. Call 228-1693 for more information. To hear about rare birds, or to leave a bird report call the Massachusetts Audubon hot line at 1-781-259-8805. Ask Ken a question at: kenandcindy1@comcast.net.

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