December 8, 2025
Three slightly different looks of the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius).
This one, a juvenile, looking very speckled. They have this look until their first major molt by early spring.
A female Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. Notice that she has a brilliant red cap but her throat is white.
And the male sitting at the edge of the birdbath. He also has a bright red cap and his throat, unlike the female, is the same bright red as his cap.
November 28, 2025
Even when it’s cold, like now, birds need water. Here a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) enjoys having some water available at the birdbath.
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November 10, 2025
A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius), here for the winter. While here in Virginia they drill sapwells into trees to drink the sap. The sap attracts ants, spiders, and moths which are also part of their diet, along with berries from the likes of Poison Ivy, Black Gum, Virginia Creeper, Hackberry, Eastern Red Cedar, and Flowering Dogwood.
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Pure pleasure to wake up this morning to have 7.5 inches of snow and sleet covering everything as if someone had poured Marshmallow Fluff over the entire landscape.
It was a busy day for the birds. I put out an extra suet feeder and loads of hulled sunflower seeds. Surely it was because of the extreme cold, word spread quickly and there seemed to be a party atmosphere.
One of the birds that came mid-afternoon was a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) that enjoyed the warmish water of the birdbath. I was pleased to see it since they are not regulars at bird feeders. It is said they sometimes come for suet but I don’t recall ever seeing one at my suet.
So glad it liked the birdbath.
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Outside on a very quiet afternoon. No sounds at all except for a call that is not familiar at all to me. Sort of a quick nasally mewy sound. I’m hearing this sound maybe once every couple minutes. Finally I see the source of the calls.
It’s a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) further up in the woods making the sound. They’re here for the winter. Drilling sapwells into trees that provide sap for their consumption and those sapwells also trap insects which they eat too. Another bird that benefits from these sapwells, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird will also sip the sap in early spring before there are many flowers in bloom.
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