Family: Picidae, Woodpeckers view all from this family

Description 8 1/2" (22 cm). A furtive woodpecker mottled with off-white and black; male has red crown and throat; female has only red crown. Both sexes dull yellowish below. Immatures dull brown. In all plumages, distinctive mark is conspicuous white wing stripe, visible both at rest and in flight. Similar to Red-naped Sapsucker, but male lacks red nape patch, and red throat is enclosed by black; throat of female all white. Hybridizes with Red-naped in Rocky Mountains, where puzzling intermediates can be found.

Habitat Young, open deciduous or mixed forests with clearings; on migration, visits parks, yards, and gardens.

Nesting 5 or 6 white eggs in a tree cavity excavated by the birds.

Range Breeds from central Canada to Newfoundland, south to British Columbia, North Dakota, Missouri, and central New England, and in the mountains to North Carolina. Winters from Missouri east to New Jersey and south to Florida and Texas; also in tropical America.

Voice   Mewing and whining notes.

Discussion This species, at least on migration, is the quietest of the woodpeckers; aside from a few squeaks and whines, it is mainly silent. It is also the least conspicuous, hitching around to the opposite side of the tree trunk when approached. Sapsuckers get their name from their habit of boring holes into the cambium layer or inner bark, letting the sap exude and run down the trunk. The birds wipe up or suck the oozing sap with their brush-like tongues. They return again and again to the same tree and also consume the insects attracted to the sap. Unfortunately, sapsucker holes damage trees and sometimes provide points of entry for fungus and other tree diseases.