Some years ago we saw a woodpecker with bright red head perched in the Mountain Ash, Sorbus sp., tree outside our kitchen window. Checking a field guide we learned that it was a Red-breasted Sapsucker, Sphyrapicus ruber. Over the years we’ve enjoyed seeing a single sapsucker, a pair of sapsuckers, and (once) a family feeding in this tree.

Sapsuckers belong to the genus Sphyrapicus in the woodpecker family (Picidae). Like all woodpeckers, they tend to perch on vertical trunks and drill holes in bark, and sometimes into the wood, with their bills. A Sapsucker pecks small holes in tree bark, usually in neatly spaced horizontal rows encircling the trunk. It returns to the tree regularly to enlarge the holes and feed on the sap that oozes out. Besides drilling sap wells, it also eats insects on tree trunks in more typical woodpecker fashion, and catches insects in the air. They’ll also eat berries and fruits when in season.

The Sibley Guide to Birds says, “All woodpeckers tap their bills rapidly against wood to proclaim territory and attract mates; this ‘drumming’ replaces the song in most species.” From time to time we would hear loud drumming while we were inside our house. The explanation came in 2019 when we saw a sapsucker perch on a wooden post and drum on an aluminum downspout attached to the post. It made a wonderfully loud and resonant sound. (Slide 16 and video 2) Looking for more information we found sapsucker downspout drumming reported in some bird guides.

On July 4 2017 we saw two adults with several juveniles in the Mountain Ash tree. (Slides 11-13) From bird guides we learned that a pair of sapsuckers raises one brood per year in a cavity in a dead tree or dead branch. Both adults incubate the eggs. After hatching the young stay in the nest for 23-28 days and are fed by both parents. After the young leave the nest the parents continue feeding them for about 10 days and teach them how to obtain sap from trees.