Red-breasted Sapsucker

Overview
Red-breasted Sapsucker: Medium-sized woodpecker with black-and-white barred upperparts, pale yellow belly, and white rump. The head, nape, throat, and breast are bright red; moustache stripe is white. The wings are checkered black-and-white with large white patches. Black bill, gray legs and feet.

Range and Habitat
Red-breasted Sapsucker: Breeds from southeastern Alaska and British Columbia south to coastal California. Spends winters in most of its breeding range except interior British Columbia. Preferred habitats include woodlands, forest edges, and groves of aspen and alder.

The Red-breasted Sapsucker has a large range, estimated globally at 1,000,000 square kilometers. Native to North America, this bird prefers boreal, temperate, subtropical, or tropical forest ecosystems. The global population of this bird is estimated at 2,500,000 individuals and does not show signs of decline that would necessitate inclusion on the IUCN Red List. For this reason, the current evaluation status of the Red-breasted Sapsucker is Least Concern.

INTERESTING FACTS
The Red-breasted Sapsucker prefers to drill sap wells in riparian species such as those in the willow and birch families. They also like other deciduous trees like orchard crops. The Rufous Hummingbird is closely associated with this sapsucker. It nests near sap wells and may follow the woodpecker around during the day, feeding at the wells the sapsucker keeps flowing. These birds interbreed with the Red-naped Sapsucker or Yellow-bellied Sapsucker where their ranges overlap. A group of sapsuckers are collectively known as a "slurp" of sapsuckers.