190 Bird - Lore 



In North Carolina I once counted 1,671 such holes in the bark of one small 

 balsam. All of these were made during one winter and spring, the last hole 

 being dug on the morning of April 5. Birch trees are often selected as the 

 birds sef m to be very fond of the sap these produce. Within two or three 

 years so much of the inner bark has been destroyed that the tree may die. 

 These 'orchards' are frequented every summer for many years and when found 

 may contain a dozen or more trees already dead. Living trees heretofore un- 

 touched are attacked as those previously employed as food supplies wither and 

 die. Here the young birds are brought by their parents when they are old 

 enough to fly, and here they feed daily until the approach of winter drives the 

 Sapsuckers from their summer homes. The holes are often formed in rings 

 that run around the tree or in a series of parallel rows extending up and down 

 the trunk or limbs. 



In addition to the soft inner bark and sap eaten by these birds, they also 

 capture many insects. Beetles, wasps, and large numbers of ants are attracted 

 to the sap that runs from the little springs the Sapsuckers make, and many 

 are caught by the birds. The tongue of a typical Woodpecker is tipped with 

 a group of backward pointing barbs. It also is very long and can be projected 

 deep into the burrows of an insect lurking in a limb or tree trunk. The barbed 

 tip makes it easy to draw forth the luckless victim. The Sapsucker's tongue, 

 however, is quite different. It is not long, and the fringe of stiff hairs on its 

 tip form a sort of brush which must be of great service to the bird in gathering 

 the flowing drops of sap. 



Among country boys the term 'Sapsucker' often is applied to a wide variety 

 of Woodpeckers. In general, all species whose black wings and back are more 

 or less spotted or streaked with white are called 'Sapsuckers.' This includes, 

 in addition to the real Sapsucker, the Downy, Hairy, Red-cockaded, Gila, 

 Texas, and Red-bellied Woodpeckers. In the southern states I have heard the 

 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker called the 'Yankee Sapsucker' because being seen 

 only in winter it is supposed, like other tourists, to come from the North — 

 or 'Yankee-land.' 



The question of how extensively Sapsuckers injure trees has often been dis- 

 cussed. This subject has been very thoroughly studied by W. L. McAtee, of 

 the United States Biological Survey. In Biological Survey Bulletin No. 39, 

 issued by the Department of Agriculture, he recounts many interesting facts 

 that came to his attention. He tells us, for example, that comparatively few 

 of the trees attacked by Sapsuckers actually die, although severe damage to 

 apple orchards in Washington and English walnut groves in California has 

 been reported. Evidently the greatest damage done is to forest trees in 

 causing them to form gnarls where holes have been dug through the 

 bark. Sometimes, too, the spores of fungi find entrance through the 

 wounds in the inner bark, with the result that the wood becomes streaked 

 or even may decay. At times spots not unlike those in bird's-eye maple 



