Throwback Thursday travels back to Saskatchewan, Canada in the late 1990s.
This is a rather smart male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius). I say smart because the bird has new, clean plumage for the spring. By the time he has found a mate and excavated a nest hole in a tree he will be rather scruffy.
4 replies on “Male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker.”
beauty! I have only seen one in all my bird watching days
Thanks. I had quite a few in Saskatchewan but have had two, maybe three sightings in Ontario all in the past few years.
I don’t remember seeing sapsucker before, but I have just seen two pictures in very quick succession – both excellent ones. The other was a red naped one.
They’re North American species and get their common English names from their feeding behaviour. They peck small holes in the trunks and branches of trees and feed on the sap that forms around the holes.