Tuesday, March 8, 2011

A yellow-bellied sapsucker

A glimpse of a woodpecker on a lunchtime walk turned out to be a male yellow-bellied sapsucker, working through an already marked tree.  The sapsucker 'wells' are used primarily to trap insects, which are consumed, but secondarily serve other birds, such as ruby-throated hummingbirds, and probably insects, etc. 

Hummingbirds track the sapsuckers on their northern migration.   The sapsuckers are still here (they're winter residents), and the ruby-throated hummingbirds have been seen in Texas. 

But spring migration is on the way.

1 comment:

Lisa said...

I adore yellow bellied sapsuckers! The name sounds like a terrible insult, doesn't it?