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70birds

That Nest in Birdhouses

70birds

That Nest in Birdhouses

70birds

That Nest in Birdhouses

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Order: Piciformes
Family: Picidae
Genus: Shpyrapicus
Species: varius

Gr. pikos woodpecker
La. picus woodpecker
Gr. picus Circe, mythological daughter of Helios, changed Picus, son of Saturn, into a woodpecker.

La. -idae appearance, resemblance
La. forma form, shape, kind
Gr. sphura hammer
La. varius variegated, multi-colored

Eight to nine inches long. Scarlet-red crown and throat, white nape, black breast, pale-lemon sometimes speckled belly and black stripped wings and back. Some females have a black crown and a white throat.

Painting of yellow-bellied sapsucker pecking rows of sap holes in a tree trunk with a farm field and tree in the background.

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers inhabit mixed forests from southeast Alaska and the Yukon, to James Bay, to eastern Quebec almost to Newfoundland, and from Minnesota and Iowa to throughout the Appalachians up to Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. They migrate and winter in southeastern U.S.

USGS map shows yellow-bellied sapsuckers range across Canada, the Great Lakes Region to Newfoundland.

They feed on sap from a wide range of trees, including alder, birch, maple, poplar, wild apple and many other fruit and ornamental trees. They also feed on insects that inhabit trees, and those it catches in aerial chases.

Yellow-bellied sapsuckers make systematic patterns of holes in trees and return to feed on insects attracted to sap dripping from these holes with its long bushy tongue. 

Occasionally they eat nuts, berries and other fruit, and the soft pulpy layer under the bark of fruit trees. Sometimes they eat slugs.

Feed yellow-belied sapsuckers suet and various nuts and fruits. Try mealworms.

Attract yellow-bellied sapsuckers. Plant any of blackberry, blueberry, red cedar, black cherry, Virginia creeper, dogwood, elderberry, euonymus, wild grape, sour gum hackberry, holly, juneberry, juniper, pokeberry, raspberry and smilax.

Painting of two yellow-bellied sapsuckers perched on the sides of a birch tree trunk.

They nest in deep tree cavities (as much as 18 – 20 inches deep) which they bore out at heights from just out of reach to twenty or thirty, sometimes over fifty feet high.

They often nest in live aspen and poplar or dead birch trees in woodlands with other deciduous trees (aspen, birch, poplar, willow, etc.) mixed with coniferous trees (spruce, fir, pines).

Sometimes they nest in orchards and residential areas.

Yellow-bellied sapsuckers often excavate new cavities each season, often in the same tree as their last cavity.

Females lay five or six, more or less, white eggs once per year which hatch after less than two weeks incubation and young leave the nest in about another four weeks, a relatively long brood season.

The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Birdhouse has a 5″ by 5″ square base, 12″ floor to the ceiling with a 1.5″ inch diameter hole centered 10″ above the floor.

Use wood stock rough cut on both sides.

Drill countersunk pilot holes in primary work pieces and regular pilot holes in secondary work pieces to reduce wood splitting.

Secure a hinged roof with shutter hooks for easy access. Assemble with corrosion resistant screws.

Fill the box with large wood chips, not sawdust.

Install in woodland edges near clearings within the proximity of lowlands and water, from just out of reach to twenty feet.

Visit the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Birdhouse Page.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Birdhouse

Select to view and print yellow-bellied sapsucker & eastern bluebird nest box plans.

Birdhouses at significant heights should be installed and maintained by professionals, carpenters, electricians, power line workers, etc.

Other woodpeckers, fly catchers, even titmice and nuthatches also may use this nest box.

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Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Birds  |  Birdhouses  |  Plans  |  Home

Painting of a yellow-bellied sapsucker perched on the side of a tree with hills and woodlands in the background.

Order: Piciformes
Family: Picidae
Genus: Shpyrapicus
Species: varius

Gr. pikos woodpecker
La. picus woodpecker
Gr. picus Circe, mythological daughter of Helios, changed Picus, son of Saturn, into a woodpecker.

La. -idae appearance, resemblance
La. forma form, shape, kind
Gr. sphura hammer
La. varius variegated, multi-colored

Eight to nine inches long. Scarlet-red crown and throat, white nape, black breast, pale-lemon sometimes speckled belly and black stripped wings and back. Some females have a black crown and a white throat.

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers inhabit mixed forests from southeast Alaska and the Yukon, to James Bay, to eastern Quebec almost to Newfoundland, and from Minnesota and Iowa to throughout the Appalachians up to Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. They migrate and winter in southeastern U.S.

USGS map shows yellow-bellied sapsuckers range across Canada, the Great Lakes Region to Newfoundland.

They feed on sap from a wide range of trees, including alder, birch, maple, poplar, wild apple and many other fruit and ornamental trees. They also feed on insects that inhabit trees, and those it catches in aerial chases.

Painting of yellow-bellied sapsuckers on an aspen tree by Louis Agassiz Fuertes

Yellow-bellied sapsuckers make systematic patterns of holes in trees and return to feed on insects attracted to sap dripping from these holes with its long bushy tongue.

Occasionally they eat nuts, berries and other fruit, and the soft pulpy layer under the bark of fruit trees. Sometimes they eat slugs.

Feed yellow-belied sapsuckers suet and various nuts and fruits. Try mealworms.

Attract yellow-bellied sapsuckers. Plant any of blackberry, blueberry, red cedar, black cherry, Virginia creeper, dogwood, elderberry, euonymus, wild grape, sour gum hackberry, holly, juneberry, juniper, pokeberry, raspberry and smilax.

They nest in deep tree cavities (as much as 18 – 20 inches deep) which they bore out at heights from just out of reach to twenty or thirty, sometimes over fifty feet high.

They often nest in live aspen and poplar or dead birch trees in woodlands with other deciduous trees (aspen, birch, poplar, willow, etc.) mixed with coniferous trees (spruce, fir, pines).

Sometimes they nest in orchards and residential areas.

Yellow-bellied sapsuckers often excavate new cavities each season, often in the same tree as their last cavity.

Females lay five or six, more or less, white eggs once per year which hatch after less than two weeks incubation and young leave the nest in about another four weeks, a relatively long brood season.

Visit the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Birdhouse Page.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Birdhouse

The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Birdhouse has a 5″ by 5″ square base, 12″ floor to the ceiling with a 1.5″ inch diameter hole centered 10″ above the floor.

Use wood stock rough cut on both sides.

Drill countersunk pilot holes in primary work pieces and regular pilot holes in secondary work pieces to reduce wood splitting.

Visit the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Birdhouse Page.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Birdhouse Plans

Secure a hinged roof with shutter hooks for easy access. Assemble with corrosion resistant screws.

Fill the box with large wood chips, not sawdust.

Install in woodland edges near clearings within the proximity of lowlands and water, from just out of reach to twenty feet.

Other woodpeckers, fly catchers, even titmice and nuthatches also may use this nest box.

Birdhouses at significant heights should be installed and maintained by professionals, carpenters, electricians, power line workers, etc.

Birds  |  Birdhouses  |  Plans  |  Forum

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Order: Piciformes
Family: Picidae
Genus: Shpyrapicus
Species: varius

Gr. pikos woodpecker
La. picus woodpecker
Gr. picus Circe, mythological daughter of Helios, changed Picus, son of Saturn, into a woodpecker.

La. -idae appearance, resemblance
La. forma form, shape, kind
Gr. sphura hammer
La. varius variegated, multi-colored

Eight to nine inches long. Scarlet-red crown and throat, white nape, black breast, pale-lemon sometimes speckled belly and black stripped wings and back. Some females have a black crown and a white throat.

Painting of a yellow-bellied sapsucker perched on the side of a tree with hills and woodlands in the background.

Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers inhabit mixed forests from southeast Alaska and the Yukon, to James Bay, to eastern Quebec almost to Newfoundland, and from Minnesota and Iowa to throughout the Appalachians up to Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. They migrate and winter in southeastern U.S.

USGS map shows yellow-bellied sapsuckers range across Canada, the Great Lakes Region to Newfoundland.

They feed on sap from a wide range of trees, including alder, birch, maple, poplar, wild apple and many other fruit and ornamental trees. They also feed on insects that inhabit trees, and those it catches in aerial chases.

Yellow-bellied sapsuckers make systematic patterns of holes in trees and return to feed on insects attracted to sap dripping from these holes with its long bushy tongue. 

Occasionally they eat nuts, berries and other fruit, and the soft pulpy layer under the bark of fruit trees. Sometimes they eat slugs.

Feed yellow-belied sapsuckers suet and various nuts and fruits. Try mealworms.

Attract yellow-bellied sapsuckers. Plant any of blackberry, blueberry, red cedar, black cherry, Virginia creeper, dogwood, elderberry, euonymus, wild grape, sour gum hackberry, holly, juneberry, juniper, pokeberry, raspberry and smilax.

Painting of yellow-bellied sapsuckers on an aspen tree.

They nest in deep tree cavities (as much as 18 – 20 inches deep) which they bore out at heights from just out of reach to twenty or thirty, sometimes over fifty feet high.

They often nest in live aspen and poplar or dead birch trees in woodlands with other deciduous trees (aspen, birch, poplar, willow, etc.) mixed with coniferous trees (spruce, fir, pines).

Sometimes they nest in orchards and residential areas.

Yellow-bellied sapsuckers often excavate new cavities each season, often in the same tree as their last cavity.

Females lay five or six, more or less, white eggs once per year which hatch after less than two weeks incubation and young leave the nest in about another four weeks, a relatively long brood season.

The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Birdhouse has a 5″ by 5″ square base, 12″ floor to the ceiling with a 1.5″ inch diameter hole centered 10″ above the floor.

Use wood stock rough cut on both sides.

Drill countersunk pilot holes in primary work pieces and regular pilot holes in secondary work pieces to reduce wood splitting.

Secure a hinged roof with shutter hooks for easy access. Assemble with corrosion resistant screws.

Fill the box with large wood chips, not sawdust.

Install in woodland edges near clearings within the proximity of lowlands and water, from just out of reach to twenty feet.

Other woodpeckers, fly catchers, even titmice and nuthatches also may use this nest box.

Visit the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Birdhouse Page

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Birdhouse

Select to view and print yellow-bellied sapsucker  nest box plans.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Birdhouse Plans

Birdhouses at significant heights should be installed and maintained by professionals, carpenters, electricians, power line workers, etc.

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