Red-breasted Sapsucker
Order: Piciformes
Family: Picidae
Genus: Sphyrapicus
Species: ruber
**Audio Coming Soon**
Description
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Length: 8.5"
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Wing span: 16"
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Weight: 1.8 oz (50 grams)
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Medium sized woodpecker with and red head and breast
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limited white spotting on back, white strip all the way up the flight feathers, and white at the base of the bill
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Belly sometimes shows a dull yellowish color
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White rump with a barred tail and white in the middle outermost feathers, black on the sides
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Males and females look alike
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Juveniles are sinilar to the adults
Factoids:
- The Red-breasted Sapsucker has two subspecies. The northern form, resident from Alaska to Oregon, is redder on the head and has less white on the back. The southern form, found in California, often shows the black and white face striping of the other sapsucker species, but all the facial feathers are tipped in red
- Hummingbirds of several species make use of sapsucker feeding holes and come to rely on them. The Rufous Hummingbird is closely associated with the Red-breasted Sapsucker. It nests near sap wells and may follow the woodpecker around during the day, feeding at the wells the sapsucker keeps flowing
- The Red-breasted Sapsucker is a denizen of the coniferous forests of the northern Pacific Coast, usually found at middle or lower elevations
- They nest in cavities in dead trees or a dead branch. and no nest material added to the cavity
All photographs and audio clips are ©Jamie Mullin 2006
Sources: Cornell Lab of Ornithology & The Sibley Guide to Birds.
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