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Yellow-bellied Sapsucker | Sphyrapicus varius
Geelbuiksapspecht | Chupasavia maculado
The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker is the sapsucker that winters furthest south and occurs in the guide area from Mexico to Panama. It drills rows of small holes, known as sap wells, in the bark of living trees and returns to them repeatedly to lick up the flowing sap and the insects attracted to it. Hummingbirds and warblers also use these wells.
Voice
Mostly silent in winter. Occasionally a soft, nasal, mewing neeah and a soft queerr. The drum has an irregular rhythm, a fast opening followed by a few separate taps, but is seldom heard in the guide area.
Recording: Bobby Wilcox — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · shortened to the first 60 s, mono · xeno-canto
Identification
19–21 cm, a small, slim woodpecker. In all plumages a long white wing stripe along the coverts stands out, even on perched birds. Adults have a red crown, a black-and-white head pattern with a white line from the bill to the neck, a black breast band and pale yellowish underparts; the nape is white or black, without red. The male has a red throat fully bordered with black, the female a white throat. The back is black with buff and white spotting; the rump is white. First-winter birds, the commonest age in winter, are largely brownish with a faint head pattern and moult into adult plumage only late in the winter.
Confusion species
Red-naped Sapsucker Sphyrapicus nuchalis, mainly in north-western Mexico, has a red nape patch, more red on the throat of the male that breaks through the black border, and a back with two narrow white lengthwise stripes; young Red-naped Sapsuckers are already largely in adult plumage by autumn. Red-breasted Sapsucker Sphyrapicus ruber has an all-red head and breast. No other woodpecker in the guide area has a white wing stripe.
Habitat
Forest of many kinds, especially pine-oak and cloud forest in the mountains, but also forest edges, secondary forest, dry forest, shade coffee, orchards, parks and gardens with trees, from sea level to over 3000 m. It takes sap and insects from its wells and also eats fruit and berries. In winter it is solitary and holds a particular tree or group of trees with sap wells.
Where the bird is most at home, classified by the vegetation units of Mexico and Central America.
Range and movements
In winter over most of Mexico, commonest in the east, centre and south, scarce in the north-west and in Baja California. Also in Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras; scarce in Nicaragua and Costa Rica and rare in western Panama. Outside the guide area it breeds in Canada and the north-eastern United States and also winters in the south-eastern United States and the Caribbean.
- Winter visitor (c. Oct–Mar)
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
How and when to look
In winter fairly common in the pine-oak forests of Chiapas and the highlands of Guatemala and Honduras, and in parks and gardens in cities such as Oaxaca. Fresh rows of small holes in bark betray its presence; brownish first-winter birds are identified by the white wing stripe.
Conservation status
Not threatened. The species is common in North America and its breeding range has expanded in recent decades.
Scientific name
Sphyrapicus varius | (Linnaeus, 1766)
Linnaeus described the species in 1766 as Picus varius; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. The genus Sphyrapicus was introduced in 1858 by Baird. Sphyrapicus combines Greek sphura 'hammer' with Picus 'woodpecker': 'hammer woodpecker'. varius is Latin for 'variegated', after the mottled black-and-white plumage. The specimen the first description was based on came from South Carolina.