20 WOODPECKERS IN RELATION TO TREES. 



EFFECTS OF SAPSUCKER WORK ON THE HEALTH OF TREES. 



Bendire says: "In certain localities, as where apple orchards are 

 abundant, it [the yellow-bellied sapsucker] becomes a nuisance, and 

 materially injures and eventually kills many such trees." 1 In the 

 State of Washington whole orchards of young apple trees have been 

 destroyed by sapsuckers, either by the western form of the yellow- 

 bellied woodpecker or by the red-breasted sapsucker. The latter 

 species injures other trees also, as related by Ellwooc 1 Cooper, of Santa 

 Barbara, Cal. He says: 



There were no trees killed outright at the time the sapsuckers were so bad, but 

 many of them ceased to be rrseful as fruit bearers. Some apple trees died back at the 

 top and did not thrive, so that I cut them down as useless, also a few English walnut 

 trees. The orange trees had my special attention. I used the knife, cutting out the 

 injured place, covered the wood with grafting wax, and had the bark heal over. The 

 trees are living now and thriving. I have a few blue gums (Eucalyptus globulus) that 

 show injury at this time. I consider the birds a pest. There were many other trees 

 injured. I hired a boy to shoot the red-headed woodpeckers [i. e., the red-breasted 

 sapsuckers] and intend to do so the coming spring. (Jan. 22 and Feb. 8, 1909.) 



B. Horsford, of Springfield, Mass., writes as follows concerning the 

 yellow-bellied sapsucker: 



I have seen the white birch cut off, or rather broken off, 20 feet from the ground in 

 more cases than I can number — all his work. I have seen the yellow birch destroyed 

 in the same manner — branches of the tree cut off, shriveled branches struggling for 

 life, but dying. I have seen a tree girdled with spots 20 feet from the ground, then 

 again a few feet lower, then below that, repeating the process to the roots, leaving a 

 dead and dry section above each belt. I have seen the white pine destroyed in the 

 same way. ... I have seen an elm tree 18 inches in diameter, whose trunk of 12 

 feet was spotted with "gimlet holes" . . . where for 10 summers past I have shot the 

 pest and thereby saved the tree. . . . Where the bird breeds, whole orchards are 

 severely injured, if not destroyed. . . . The leaves fade and the fruit withers on 

 the stem or falls to the ground. Perhaps not half the apple trees attacked are killed 

 outright, but the birch tree invariably dies. 2 



Even forest trees are not immune from injury by sapsuckers. 

 Prof. W. W. Cooke, of the Biological Survey, states that near Lake 

 Itasca, in northern Minnesota, where the birds breed, the yellow- 

 bellied is the most common woodpecker. It does much mischief 

 among forest trees, killing many great poplars by its girdles. 



Mr. A. W. Butler says: 



It knows when sugar making begins. ... I have found their borings, from which 

 sap was flowing, February 19, 1896. Through March and April they continue their 

 work. ... In fall when they come to us they resume their work of piercing the 

 bark of maple, apple, and other trees. ... I have found their fresh work on young 

 apple trees, never before pierced, as late as November 19, 1895. Pine trees are also 

 girdled, chiefly, however, through the winter, for among them the sapsucker spends 

 his winter, and about lawns where pines and maples grow together they are most com- 

 monly found at that season. By spring they have removed most of the bark scales 



i Bendire, C, Life Histories of N. A. Birds, II, 84-85, 1895. 2 Forest and Stream, XX, 124, 1883. 



