The Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. 



Alvin M. Peterson 



West Allis, Wis. 



Some birds like some people have bad reputations. The 

 blue jay has been known to steal the eggs and kill the young 

 of other birds and crows and grackles to steal com. Rightly 

 or wrongly the yellow-bellied sapsucker has a worse reputation 

 than any other woodpecker. He is accused of tapping trees, 

 sucking the sap as it flows from the holes, and eventually girdling 

 the tree and thus killing it. His friends, however, call attention 

 to the fact that he destroys numerous harmful insects, catching 

 and eating them in large numbers as they hover near the sap 

 cups which the bird has made in the trees. 



A small grove of maples and oaks that I visit occasionally has 

 for some time been frequented by a half dozen of these interesting 

 birds. We first discovered a pair on a small maple from which 

 the sap was flowing freely from numerous rotind cups about one- 

 fourth of an inch in diameter. The female flew on our approach 

 while the male hopped up the trunk to get out of reach but upon 

 our stopping returned to the sap cups. "Woodpeckers," said 

 my friend on first seeing them. "Sapsuckers," I replied, "Look 

 at the sap running down the tree." We approached gradually, 

 now walking, now standing still, until we were but a few feet 

 from the tree. Each time we walked the bird invariably hopped 

 up the tree only to return as soon as we stood still. 



A few days later I stationed myself near a tree which seemed 

 to be a favorite because of the frequent visits made by the birds 

 to it. The birds on it flew off only to return after a -visit to a 

 couple of less favored trees. They uttered sharp notes which 

 sotmded like "cleu" which were long drawn out and quite clearly 

 indicated that I was considered an intruder. After considerable 

 scolding the female flew off but the male evidently decided to 

 continue feeding on the sap in spite of me. He stopped between 

 drinks of sap to look long and carefully at me, occasionally show- 

 ing his resentment at my nearness by his shrill cries. In due 

 time he visited all the tiny cups, several times holding his bill 

 lengthwise the trunk in order to get at the sap in some nook to 



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