| Red-breasted sapsucker | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Piciformes |
| Family: | Picidae |
| Genus: | Sphyrapicus |
| Species: | S. ruber |
| Binomial name | |
| Sphyrapicus ruber (Gmelin, JF, 1788) | |
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Breeding Year-round Nonbreeding | |
Thered-breasted sapsucker (Sphyrapicus ruber) is a medium-sizedwoodpecker of the forests of the west coast of North America.
The red-breasted sapsucker wasformally described in 1788 by the German naturalistJohann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition ofCarl Linnaeus'sSystema Naturae. He placed it with the woodpeckers in thegenusPicus and coined thebinomial namePicus ruber.[2] The specific epithet isLatin meaning "red".[3] Gmelin based his description on the "red-breasted woodpecker" that had been described in 1782 by the English ornithologistJohn Latham in hisA General Synopsis of Birds.[4] Latham mistakenly believed that his specimen had come fromCayenne in French Guiana. Thetype locality has been designated asNootka Sound in the Canadian province ofBritish Columbia.[5] The red-breasted sapsucker is now one of four species placed in the genusSphyrapicus that was introduced in 1858 by the American naturalistSpencer Baird.[6][7]
The red-breasted sapsucker, thered-naped sapsucker (Sphyrapicus nuchalis) and theyellow-bellied sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius) were formerly treated as a single species, the yellow-bellied sapsucker. The red-breasted and red-naped sapsuckers interbreed where their ranges overlap.[8] Sapsuckers are in thePicidae, or woodpecker,family, in the orderPiciformes.
Twosubspecies are recognised:[7]
Adults have a red head and upper chest; they have a white lower belly and rump. They are black on the back and wings with bars; they have a large white wing patch. The northern birds, subspeciesS. r. ruber, have yellow bars on the back and yellow upper belly. The southern birds, subspeciesS. r. daggetti, have white bars on the back and a pale belly. The wing barring is white in both variants.
These birds make various noises; their vocalizations include a variety of chatter, squeals, and scream-like calls, and they also drum with their bills on various surfaces. Many of these noises serve to establish territory and attract a mate. This is in addition to the noise made by drilling holes for feeding and by excavating nest cavities.[8]
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Red-breasted sapsuckers breed from southeastAlaska andBritish Columbia south through thePacific Coast Ranges of westernWashington andOregon and northernCalifornia.The breeding habitat is usually forest that includes pine, hemlock, Douglas-fir, fir, and spruce, though they are known to use other woodland habitats. They preferold-growth forest. They require living trees to provide the sap on which they feed.[8]
The birds that breed in the northern part of the range migrate south in the winter, and individuals that breed in inland and upland locales often move to the coastal lowlands in winter, where the weather is milder. Winter habitat can be deciduous or coniferous woodland. This species’ winter range extends south toBaja California inMexico.[8]
A sapsucker's tongue is adapted with stiff hairs for collecting sap. Red-breasted sapsuckers visit the same tree multiple times, drilling holes in neat horizontal rows. A bird will leave and come back later, when the sap has started flowing from the holes. Repeated visits over an extended period of time can actually kill the tree.[9] The insects attracted to the sap are also consumed, and not only by sapsuckers. Rufous hummingbirds, for example, have been observed to follow the movements of sapsuckers and take advantage of this food source.[8]
Red-breasted sapsuckersnest in tree cavities. They begin work on creating a nest hole in a dead tree, usually a deciduous tree,[9] in April or May, and produces one brood per breeding season. The female lays 4–7 pure white eggs. Both parents feed the young, and the fledglings leave the nest at 23–28 days old. The nest cavity is not reused.[8]
