I love the return of spring… there is so much going on, from
the Western Chorus Frog singing in the twilight, to the return of the
hummingbirds, to the moose with their newborn calves. Another pleasure is that
for a brief time, our woodpecker diversity increases from the usual Downy and
Hairy Woodpeckers (with the occasional Northern Flicker thrown in). I make a point of looking carefully every time
I hear the rat-tat-tat of a woodpecker in the spring, because it just might be
a Red-naped or Williamson’s Sapsucker.
The beautiful Red-naped Sapsucker
These flashy birds live in the high country, but at least at
my house, they never stick around much past May. (Don’t mind me… just coming through….. ) And I only get the Red-naped – I have yet to
see a Williamson’s, although they are reported for Gilpin County (http://coloradocountybirding.org/Checklists.aspx)
Red-naped Sapsuckers, as you might suspect from the name,
love to drill trees for the sap (nutrient-and-sugar-rich
phloem). While aspen and willows are preferred, they will also use other
species, although they usually will only attack pines where the bark is not too
thick. The holes are ¼’ and are in neat, evenly spaced horizontal or vertical
rows. People often mistakenly blame insects for
this damage.
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| Typical sapsucker holes -- photo by C.R. Foss (http://pep.wsu.edu) |
Sometimes the holes can be
enlarged so it looks like some sort of odd board game (see below).
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| Enlarged Sapsucker holes in a young Ponderosa |
Usually the shallow damage is not severe enough to harm the
tree, although it's possible. The most
commonly recommended damage control method is to wrap burlap around the
affected area to discourage sapsuckers from returning. You could also try hanging
bright, shiny objects such as pie tins or shiny streamers on the tree
as scare devices. These techniques may or may not be effective, and they may
just shift the bird’s attention to another part of the tree or to a nearby
tree. If the sapsucker appears to favor a specific tree, it may be best to use
it as a sacrifice tree, so the bird leaves other trees alone.
Sapsuckers also create nest cavities in aspen
and Ponderosa snags (or sometimes still alive but partially decaying trees).
Interestingly, many other animals benefit from the work of
the sapsuckers, including bats and hummingbirds! They take advantage of the anticoagulant that
sapsuckers have in their saliva that prevents coagulation of the sap, partaking
of the free-flowing goodness even hours after the bird has left.
Sapsucker wells may even allow for the return of broad-tailed
hummingbirds to the mountains before many flowers are blooming. This is because the phloem sap is very similar
in sugar content to flower nectar.
Sometimes insects will get stuck in the sap, providing a protein boost.
