Sapsuckers Back Tappin' on Signs

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker in Holden Park

I have been seeing sapsucker arrivals on the birding listserves and with another 60-degree day in the forecast, I headed out to check out the two places in Pepin County where I spotted them last year.  I didn't hear or see them over on Kings Highway in Maxville, so I drove across the flooded Lower Chippewa River (current stage:  12 ft) to Silver Birch Lake. 

Lots of birds on the ice and water at the Lake:  Bald Eagles harassing mergansers, Ring-necked Ducks, Ring-billed Gulls and Common Goldeneyes.  I caught a glimpse of a Common Loon as it dove, then minutes later, heard it yodel.   No sapsuckers in the oaks on the west side of the park.  But the Columbines have leafed out.

My Prius strained back up the hill to the prairies - but it continues to get great mileage (70 miles per gallon for the slow spin around the neighborhood).

I headed down the hill at Holden Park to see if the Eastern Phoebe was back and working on a new nest on the eve of the park outhouse.  It was.  Then I heard a odd metallic tapping echoed through the woods.

I had trouble locating the origin.  Turns out it was right in front of me:  A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker drumming on the RV dumping station sign by the outhouse.   Bad lighting, but I took a picture anyway.  Then both he and the phoebe took off.

I headed over to Alma to take a look at the flooding along the Buffalo and Mississippi (current stage:  13 ft) Rivers.  The Swan Observation deck and campgrounds at Rieck's Lake Park are under water!

Yellow-Bellied Sapsuckers

After we checked the bluebird boxes in Maxville (9 eggs so far), we took the "scenic" route through the coulees along Kings Highway heading towards Durand.   At the little creek - about a mile from Stai Coulee Road - I spotted a woodpecker flying across the road.  I stopped, pulled out my binoculars and scanned the trees.  There it was - a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.

I pulled out my iPod and thumbed my way through the playlists and clicked.  In seconds, I had the drum and call of this bird playing though the speakers of my Prius.  I watched as the bird alerted to the sounds coming from my car.  The bird looked, flew right at us and landed in a cedar to the right of us, then he flew over to the traffic sign by the creek.  He landed on the signpost, looked around and drummed on the metal sign.

He was joined almost immediately by a female.  We sat quietly and watched the two of them interact.

We first spotted Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers two weeks ago, over by the rifle range near Silver Birch County Park.  The only woodpecker in eastern North America that's completely migratory (some travel as far south as Panama), they have been spotted wintering in the Lower Chippewa River valley.  They're migrating through Wisconsin now - and we've been seeing them virtually everywhere.
 
According to scientists at the Boreal Songbird Initiative, more than 50% of the total population of Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers breed in the Boreal Ecoregion of Canada and Alaska.   Throughout their breeding range, they choose early successional trees  - the aspens, birch and maples - for nesting.

                                                          Yellow-bellied Sapsucker breeding range

Studies indicate a positive population trend for this species in Wisconsin - primarily in the north woods and along river valleys.   

How can they survive on a diet of watery sap?

The sap these birds are after is different from the sap "from the tree's "xylem") we tap and boil to make maple syrup.  These avian sap-tappers go after the difficult-to-access and more nutritious sugar-laden sap in the thin wall of the tree's "phloem." 

Which trees are favored? 

Not just sugar maples and birches.  I was surprised to find a study that reported the familiar rows of sap wells in nearly a 1,000 woody plant species.  (I always wondered why I keep seeing the distinctive rows of sapsucker holes on trees other than maples).

These birds defend their sap wells from other sapsuckers - and the other animals attracted to them, including other woodpeckers, warblers, hummingbirds, bats, squirrels and porcupines!

Sapsucker's diet however, is not comprised solely of sap.  They also eat arthropods - ants, caterpillars and bees.

You can attract Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers to your yard by putting out grape jelly and suet feeders.