Episode Number
74
Episode Show Notes / Description
Yellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius).
The woodpecker that makes lines of holes in tree bark.
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The following Cornell Lab | Macaulay Library recordings were used in this episode:
- Yellow-bellied sapsucker nasal call by Gregory Budney (ML507314)
- Yellow-bellied sapsucker drumming by Mike Anderson (ML507320)
- Yellow-bellied sapsucker scratchy call by Donald Kerr (ML507319)
Sources and more:
- https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow-bellied_Sapsucker
- https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/yellow-bellied-sapsucker
- Dobson, C., Kassenbaum, D., Oehmke, D., & Misewicz, M. (2023). Field guide to hotspots and birds in Illinois. Scissortail LLC.
- Peterson, R. T., & Peterson, V. M. (1980). A field guide to the birds: A completely new guide to all the birds of eastern and central North America (Fourth edition, completely revised and enlarged.). Houghton Mifflin Company.
- Sibley, D. (2016). Sibley birds East: Field guide to birds of eastern North America (2nd ed.). Alfred A. Knopf.
- Walton, R. K., & Lawson, R. W. (1989). Birding by Ear: Eastern/Central [Compact Disc]. On Eastern/Central birding by ear. Houghton Mifflin Co.
Transcript
This is Brodie with Illinois Extension and I’m here with a new “voice of the wild”
A tree with A neat line of small holes spaced with a regularity and persistence normally reserved for the work of wood-boring insects; has in fact, been tapped by our only fully migratory woodpecker. They drink the sap from these taps as a primary food source but they also partake of ants and any other insects that happen to be drawn to the sweet liquid. This is the yellow bellied sapsucker
While they spend their summers further north, the sapsucker can be found in the midwest in migration and winter. Though they often do have a wash of yellow on the front, the sapsucker is better identified by their red crest, long white wingpatch, their soft nasally call, and especially their unique drumming, which sounds like they had a burst of energy that quickly petered out. Here’s the yellow bellied sapsucker again
Thank you to the Macaulay library at the Cornell lab for today’s sound. Learn more about voice of the wild at go.illinois.edu/VOW
A tree with A neat line of small holes spaced with a regularity and persistence normally reserved for the work of wood-boring insects; has in fact, been tapped by our only fully migratory woodpecker. They drink the sap from these taps as a primary food source but they also partake of ants and any other insects that happen to be drawn to the sweet liquid. This is the yellow bellied sapsucker
While they spend their summers further north, the sapsucker can be found in the midwest in migration and winter. Though they often do have a wash of yellow on the front, the sapsucker is better identified by their red crest, long white wingpatch, their soft nasally call, and especially their unique drumming, which sounds like they had a burst of energy that quickly petered out. Here’s the yellow bellied sapsucker again
Thank you to the Macaulay library at the Cornell lab for today’s sound. Learn more about voice of the wild at go.illinois.edu/VOW